(Photo credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Emanuel Sharp scored 26 points and L.J. Cryer added 20 as No. 2 Houston defeated No. 17 BYU 74-54 on Friday in the first Big 12 tournament semifinal.

Top-seeded Houston (28-4) led wire to wire and advanced to the Saturday final, where it will face either second-seeded Texas Tech or third-seeded Arizona.

Houston defeated Arizona in the teams' only matchup in the regular season. Houston split with Texas Tech, with the Cougars' lone loss this season coming at home in overtime against the Red Raiders.

The Cougars from Houston controlled the pace far better than the Cougars from Provo, Utah.

Houston, which also got 14 points from Milos Uzan, attempted 26 3-point shots, tied for its third-highest total of the season.

Fourth-seeded BYU (24-8) also had three players in double figures, led by Keba Keita with 14 points. Dawson Baker added 11 and Richie Saunders had 11.

BYU scored 96 points in its quarterfinal victory over Iowa State and came in averaging 81.8 points per game, second best in the Big 12. But Houston led the conference in points allowed 58.4 per game, tied for first in the nation.

Trailing by 21 at halftime, BYU tried to make a game of it in the second half. The Cougars used an 8-0 run to get within 45-32. Houston contributed by going 2-for-11 in the first 6:34 of the half. However, back-to-back 3-pointers by Sharp silenced the BYU fans. By the 9:38 mark, Houston had its largest lead at 58-36.

If BYU had hoped for a quick start against the suffocating Houston defense, they didn't get it. BYU missed its first nine shots before Baker hit a floater in the lane with 13:16 left in the first half. Houston already led 15-0.

BYU slowly chipped away at the deficit, trimming it to 23-16 with 6:32 left in the first half. However, Houston closed the half outscoring BYU 18-4 to take a 41-20 halftime lead.

Sharpe led Houston with 13 first-half points, while Cryer was right behind with 12. Saunders had eight before the break for BYU.

--David Smale, Field Level Media