Houston drilled BYU at the Fertitta Center. But lately, the Cougars from Provo have been just as hot as the Cougars who won the regular-season Big 12 Conference championship. And now, two sets of Cougars put their long winning streaks on the line in Friday night's Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship semifinal at Kansas City.

Emanuel Sharpe scored 26 points, LJ Cryer had 20 and second-ranked Houston stifled No. 17 BYU in a 74-54 victory that moved the Cougars into the Big 12 Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season.

Much has changed for BYU since it lost to Houston on Jan. 4, and Kelvin Sampson has noticed. Though Sampson’s squad defeated the blue Cougars in Friday’s Big 12 tournament semifinal, the veteran head coach was quick to credit BYU for its improvement since the teams’ first meeting.