Sixth-seeded Houston led from start to finish against Notre Dame as the Cougars rebounded from a loss Tuesday to No. 9 Alabama to claim a 65-54 victory over the Fighting Irish late Wednesday at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

Emanuel Sharp led the way with 17 points for the Cougars (4-2), who got 13 points from Terrance Arceneaux and 10 points and nine assists from Milos Uzan.

Tae Davis finished the game with 22 points and eight rebounds for the Fighting Irish (4-3). Braeden Shrewsberry added 16 points.

Notre Dame is 0-2 in Las Vegas this week and will play Creighton, which has also lost twice in the Players Era event, on Saturday morning for seventh place out of eight teams. Houston is 1-1 and will play San Diego State for third place.

Houston took a 10-point lead early in the second half, but Notre Dame cut the deficit to 45-44 thanks to a good start to the half for Shrewsberry, who made three three-pointers and another basket. Davis made a layup with 13:41 to play to cut Houston’s lead to one.

The Cougars later went nearly four minutes without scoring a point, but Notre Dame couldn’t take advantage. The losing streak ended with a shot from LJ Cryer that gave Houston a 52-45 lead at the 7:14 mark.

J’Wan Roberts drove to the basket for a layup, giving the Cougars a 56-47 lead with 3:52 left. The game-winning basket came from Sharp, who sank a three-pointer from well outside the arc as the shot clock expired with 1:43 left for a 59-49 Houston lead.

After that, the Irish only came within seven points of the deficit.

Notre Dame received some good news before Wednesday’s game. Leading scorer Markus Burton, who suffered a knee injury early in the Irish’s overtime loss to Rutgers on Tuesday, is expected to return this season.

Burton will have an MRI when the Irish return to Indiana from Las Vegas. On Wednesday, he watched from the bench with a leg brace.

Arceneaux made all six of his shot attempts in the first half, including back-to-back jumpers, to give the Cougars a 27-18 lead. He made another jump shot with eight seconds left in the half, giving Houston a 39-31 lead at halftime.

–Field level media