DALLAS (AP) — Houston is home in the Lone Star State, playing as a No. 1 seed in the South Region and in the Sweet 16 for the fifth NCAA Tournament in a row.
With All-America point guard Jamal Shead, big man J'Wan Roberts and coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars are in the midst of their best March Madness run since they made three consecutive Final Fours in the Phi Slama Jam era four decades ago. They were Big 12 regular-season champions this season after moving into that power conference, top 10 in the AP poll throughout and No. 1 for three weeks.
“I don’t think that we changed any type of motivation or changed what we’ve been doing all year, and for the past four years that I’ve been here,” Shead said Thursday. “They had a winning culture before I got here, and it kind of got instilled in me playing with guys like J’Wan for four years and all the guys that were in front of us. ... We follow Coach Sampson, and I think that's the real reason we're here.”
The Cougars (32-4) play blueblood Duke (26-8) on Friday night at the home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, about 250 miles from the Houston campus. Another Atlantic Coast Conference team, No. 11 seed North Carolina State (24-14), takes on second-seeded Marquette (27-9) and former Texas coach Shaka Smart in the first Dallas game.
Duke was just getting started with coach Mike Krzyzewski and wasn't in the NCAA field when Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler took the Cougars to the first of those consecutive Final Fours in 1982. The following year, Houston lost to coach Jim Valvano's Wolfpack in a memorable championship game. The Cougars made the title game again in 1984, the year of Coach K's first NCAA tourney with the Blue Devils.
Since then, there have since been only two NCAA tournaments played without Duke, which has five national championships. Second-year Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer won a title as a player in 2010, and was an assistant coach for their most recent in 2015.
The Cougars, meanwhile, went 34 years before even winning another March Madness game, with only four appearances until an opening-round victory in 2018. The next year started their active run of Sweet 16s, which is matched only by Midwest Region No. 5 seed Gonzaga.
“This (Houston) group has been together not just this year. It’s been a few years in the making,” Scheyer said. “You’re playing a team that expects to win. Coach Sampson, the job that he’s done, the staff, the program, they’ve developed that edge and that belief. That’s something that I’ve known. I’ve known no other way since I’ve been a player at Duke. It’s no different since I have been an assistant coach here, the head coach. We expect to win."
Houston's 125 wins with Shead and Roberts are the most in a four-year span in school history. The latest was 100-95 in overtime against Texas A&M, in which they survived Shead and three other starters fouling out while Roberts finished with four fouls.
The Blue Devils lost their regular-season finale at home to North Carolina, costing them a share of the ACC regular-season title. Then they dropped their conference tourney opener to N.C. State, which won the third of five games in as many days just to get into the 68-team March Madness field.
“We knew how good we are, but with the two losses, we didn’t get a win for, like, two weeks. It can kind of get a little unconfident," Duke guard Jeremy Roach said. “I think getting that first (NCAA) win against Vermont was a big thing, and then it just leads us to ... where we are right now. We just have to keep that confidence going.”
The only double-digit seed still playing is N.C. State, with the same No. 11 seed that Smart's VCU team had during its improbable Final Four run in 2011.
N.C. State has been playing elimination games since going into the ACC Tournament having lost seven of nine. The Wolfpack won five games in five days against past national champs for the league's automatic NCAA bid, then beat Texas Tech and Oakland.
“We went into this postseason with the approach that it’s a new season. ... Every game was its own championship, literally,” Wolfpack guard Casey Morsell said. “That’s the same approach we’ve had in this tournament.”
Marquette hadn't been in the Sweet 16 since it made three in a row from 2011-13. This is the first regional semifinal for Smart in his 10 NCAA appearances since VCU's run. He made four more tourneys with the Rams, three in six years with Texas and all three since returning to his home state to coach the Golden Eagles.
“I try not to really dwell too much on the past," Smart said. “Because then all of a sudden you do something really, really fun and exciting, and your overwhelming emotion is relief.”
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Duke guard Jeremy Roach (3) has a team huddle during a time out in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament game against North Carolina State Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Houston forward J'Wan Roberts (13) and head coach Kelvin Sampson celebrate the team's 100-95 overtime win after a second-round college basketball game against Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 24, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
Houston guard Jamal Shead (1) grabs a loose ball away from Longwood guard DA Houston (3) during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 22, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
NEW YORK (AP) — Pro-Palestinian protesters that had been blocked by police from accessing an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday broke through fencing, linked arms and encircled tents that remained there, as Columbia University canceled its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.
Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group has been at the encampment for the past two weeks and that they were calling for an end to the killing of thousands of people in Gaza.
“Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT’s direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” he said.
Protesters also sat in the middle of Massachusetts Avenue, blocking the street during rush hour in the Boston area.
The demonstrations at Columbia have roiled its campus and officials said Monday that while it won't hold it's main ceremony, students will be able to celebrate at a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next.
The decision comes as universities around the country wrangle with how to handle commencements for students whose high school graduations were derailed by COVID-19 in 2020. Another campus shaken by protests, Emory University, announced Monday that it would move its commencement from its Atlanta campus to a suburban arena. Others, including the University of Michigan, Indiana University and Northeastern, have pulled off ceremonies with few disruptions.
Columbia’s decision to cancel its main ceremonies scheduled for May 15 saves its president, Minouche Shafik, from having to deliver a commencement address in the same part of campus where police dismantled a protest encampment last week. The Ivy League school in upper Manhattan said it made the decision after discussions with students.
“Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families,” officials said.
Most of the ceremonies that had been scheduled for the south lawn of the main campus, where encampments were taken down last week, will take place about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north at Columbia’s sports complex, officials said.
Speakers at some of Columbia’s still-scheduled graduation ceremonies include Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames and Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health.
Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. More than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s green or occupied an academic building were arrested in recent weeks.
Similar encampments sprouted up elsewhere as universities struggled with where to draw the line between allowing free expression while maintaining safe and inclusive campuses.
The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony. Students abandoned their camp at USC on Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest.
Other universities have held graduation ceremonies with beefed-up security. The University of Michigan's ceremony was interrupted by chanting a few times Saturday. In Boston on Sunday, some students waved small Palestinian or Israeli flags at Northeastern University's commencement in Fenway Park.
Emory’s ceremonies scheduled for May 13 will be held at the GasSouth Arena and Convocation Center in Duluth, almost 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of the university’s Atlanta campus, President Gregory Fenves said in an open letter.
“Please know that this decision was not taken lightly,” Fenves wrote. “It was made in close consultation with the Emory Police Department, security advisors and other agencies — each of which advised against holding commencement events on our campuses.”
The 16,000-student university is one of many that has seen repeated protests stemming from the conflict that started Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages. Student protesters are calling on their schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel or otherwise contribute to the war effort.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.
Hamas on Monday announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet its “core demands” and that it was pushing ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
“Cease-fires are temporary,” said Selina Al-Shihabi, a Georgetown University sophomore who was taking part in a protest at George Washington. “There can be a cease-fire, but the U.S. government will continue to arm the Israeli military. We plan to be here until the university divests or until they drag us out of here.”
At the University of California, San Diego, police cleared an encampment and arrested more than 64 people, including 40 students.
The University of California, Los Angeles, moved all classes online for the entire week due to ongoing disruptions following the dismantling of an encampment last week. The university police force reported 44 arrests but there were no specific details, UCLA spokesperson Eddie North-Hager said in an email to The Associated Press.
Schools are trying various tactics from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action to get protestors to take down encampments or move to campus areas where demonstrations would be less intrusive.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago said in a Facebook post Sunday that it offered protesters “amnesty from academic sanction and trespassing charges” if they moved.
“Many protesters left the premises of their own accord after being notified by the police that they were trespassing and subject to arrest,” the school said. “Those that remained were arrested after multiple warnings to leave, including some of whom we recognized as SAIC students.”
A group of faculty and staff members at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked the administration for amnesty for any students who were arrested and suspended during recent protests. UNC Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine said in a media advisory that it would deliver a letter on behalf of more than 500 faculty who support the student activists.
Other universities took a different approach.
Harvard University's interim president, Alan Garber, warned students that those participating in a pro-Palestinian encampment in Harvard Yard could face “involuntary leave.” That means they would not be allowed on campus, could lose their student housing and may not be able to take exams, Garber said.
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LeBlanc reported from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Atlanta and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, contributed to this report.
This story has been amended to change the first name of the president of Columbia University to reflect her preference, Minouche.
A sign is seen on the fence in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
California Highway Patrol officers clash with protesters at UC San Diego Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus Pro-Palestinian encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A Pro-Palestinian protester is hit with a baton by a police officer at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A demonstrator carries a Palestinian flag beside a line of demonstrators Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. after several hundred demonstrators crossed torn down barricades and joined pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A student protester works on her laptop in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
A student walks in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag at a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed breached barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators breech barricades that had been erected outside a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators tear down barricades that had been erected outside a pro-Palestinian encampment atthe Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators that have been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Police officers look on as a worker removes signs from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Pro-Palestinian protestors stand on Massachusetts Avenue near a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Graduate student Bataya Kline speaks at a Pro-Palestinian rally Monday, May 6, 2024 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. where a weeklong encampment has grown to more than 100 tents. Wesleyan officials have said they will allow the encampment to remain as long as the protests are peaceful and do not disrupt campus life. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)
Graduate student Bataya Kline speaks at a Pro-Palestinian rally Monday, May 6, 2024 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where a weeklong encampment has grown to more than 100 tents. Wesleyan officials have said they will allow the encampment to remain as long as the protests are peaceful and do not disrupt campus life. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)
Pro-Palestinian protesters at the encampment in the quad at the University of Chicago on the South Side, Monday, May 6, 2024. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Police officers clash with Pro-Palestinian protesters at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus Pro-Palestinian encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Students and passersby watch from a nearby building steps as Pro-Palestinian protestors gather outside a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Police officers clash with Pro-Palestinian protesters at UC San Diego Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Workers remove tents and debris from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Workers remove tents and debris from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
New York City police officers stand on the Columbia University campus, amongst the equipment that was to be used to host a large graduation ceremony, in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A New York City police officer looks over the center of Columbia University, the usual site of a large graduation ceremony, in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A New York City police officer walks past seating that was to be used for a large graduation ceremony at Columbia University in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Authorities detain a protester on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, in Atlanta, Georgia, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
CORRECTS CAPTION TO NYPD ARREST PRO-PALESTINIAN DEMONSTRATORS New York Police Department officers arrest pro-Palestinian demonstrators on 114th Street and Amsterdam Avenue on Tuesday night, April 30, 2024, in New York. The NYPD also stormed Columbia University’s campus after Columbia University President Minouche Shafik called on the department to dismantle encampments and remove individuals from Hamilton Hall. (Seyma Bayram via AP)
Staff members of the Columbia Daily Spectator, the college newspaper, work into the night as police cleared out demonstrators from Columbia University's campus, late Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. Left to right; Isabella Ramirez, editor in chief; Esha Karam, managing editor; Yvin Shin, head copy editor; Emily Forgash, deputy news editor; and Shea Vance, university news editor. (AP Photo/Jake Offenhartz)
FILE - Pro-Israel demonstrators gather for the "Bring Them Home Now" rally outside the Columbia University, April 26, 2024, in New York. Pro-Palestinian protesters have dominated university quads in the last two weeks, shutting down colleges and clashing with riot police. But there’s been a notable scarcity of student rallies in solidarity with Israelis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
