No. 1 seed Houston is headed to the Final Four for the second time in the past five seasons after imposing its will on No. 2 seed Tennessee for a 69-50 win in the Elite Eight on Sunday. The Cougars used a masterful defensive effort to build a 22-point first half lead and then held on late for their 17th consecutive victory.

Tennessee veterans Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack were part of the Volunteers team that lost to Purdue in the Elite Eight last year. They could have left to explore their professional basketball opportunities, but decided to return to Tennessee for another opportunity like the one they have today.

Houston basketball secured its spot in the Final Four on Saturday with an Elite Eight win vs. Tennessee. Here's the Cougars history in the Final Four:

To the delight of one of its biggest fans, the Cougars head to San Antonio with a chance of winning its first national title

Tennessee lets the clock run down as Houston celebrate reaching their seventh Final Four in program history.

All the top seeds in the men’s tournament are headed to the Final Four! It’s Florida, Duke, Houston and Auburn next week in San Antonio. • Houston books their trip to San Antonio: Houston rolled to their school’s seventh Final Four appearance with a dominating win over Tennessee,

Houston's relentless, harassing defense had Tennessee's shooters dancing around. Now, the Cougars are two-stepping it back to Texas. L.J. Cryer finished with 17 points, Emanuel Sharp scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and the nation's stingiest defense delivered a historic NCAA Tournament performance,

The Houston Cougars like mixing it up — and turning things ugly. Their hard-nosed defense has been a staple throughout coach Kelvin Sampson's 11-year tenure, and it served them well

Houston 9-25 (Sharp 4-10, Arceneaux 2-3, Cryer 2-8, Wilson 1-2, Uzan 0-2). Rebounds_Tennessee 34 (Okpara 9), Houston 40 (Tugler 9). Assists_Tennessee 12 (Zeigler 5), Houston 15 (Cryer, Wilson 4). Total Fouls_Tennessee 9,