Kelvin Sampson praises Big 12 after Houston win: ‘We weren’t 34-4 playing in the Toy Poodle League’

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson had a lot to say after his Cougars came from behind to stun Duke in Saturday night’s NCAA Tournament semifinal.

Duke was in control for nearly the entire game. With 8:17 remaining, the Blue Devils led 59-45. With 33 seconds left, Duke was up 67-61. But thanks to some clutch shooting and defense, Houston dominated the final minute and won 70-67. After the game, with his team around him, Sampson spoke to CBS’ Tracy Wolfson.

“No one ever loses at anything as long as you don’t quit,” Sampson said. “When you quit, I don’t care, you’ve lost. Our thing in our time-outs –we’ve been here before. It’s not like we were down 20. It’s not like we were playing great. We felt like if we could get it close enough to put some game pressure on them, then something good could happen. But all the credit goes to God and all the credit goes to these unbelievable young men I get to coach. I’m so blessed I get to coach these kids.”

Sampson was not done.

“I hear what people say. ‘Duke this. Duke that.’ Duke’s great. Jon Scheyer is awesome. But don’t sleep on Houston. Don’t sleep on Houston. We weren’t 34-4 playing in the Toy Poodle League. We were 19-1 in the Big 12. Playing in the Big 12 helped us. Shoutout to my Big 12 brethren. Brett Yormark and all the great coaches in the Big 12.”

As was the case during football season, conferences were a big part of the discussion in the buildup to the NCAA Tournament. One of the more controversial tournament bids went to Duke’s archrival in the ACC, North Carolina. That bid came at the expense of Houston’s Big 12 rival, West Virginia.

This was certainly a good time for Sampson to speak highly of his team and conference.