Houston Basketball Falls To Texas Tech: 2 Takeaways

Houston basketball suffered its first Big 12 loss of the season to Texas Tech in an incredible 90-86 loss on Saturday afternoon at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock. 

The Cougars dropped to 17-2 on the season and a 5-1 conference record. Tech improves to 16-4 and 6-1 in the Big 12. Houston basketball had entered with a 16-game road winning streak, which was the longest in the nation and a program record. UH was doing something that was just unheard of, and Texas Tech was the one that ended that mark. 

Additionally, Houston’s 11-game win streak overall was broken as well. Texas Tech has one of the few teams to give Houston some real trouble. The only Big 12 loss Houston suffered last season was to the Red Raiders in overtime last year at home. UH had a 33-game home winning streak at the time, and TTU ended that as well. 

Tech has been the Cougars’ streak breaker. This has turned into arguably the premier rivalry in the Big 12, and every single time these teams play, it’s been highly physical and so close. This game was no different. Here are two takeaways. 

Takeaway #1: Struggles on defense

Houston basketball did not play great defensively in this game, which was very uncharacteristic of them. The Cougars gave up 55 first-half points, which was the most given up by a Kelvin Sampson team at Houston since he became the head coach in 2014. Texas Tech did shoot really well throughout the game, but the main story of the game was that the Red Raiders beat up the Cougars at their own game. 

Houston basketball has never gotten destroyed on the boards the way it did in this game against Tech. The Cougars lost the rebounding battle 44-28. A 16-point margin in that category is unheard of. The Red Raiders won the battle of offensive rebounds 21-11 and cashed in with 22 second-chance points, double what Houston got. 

Texas Tech did what Houston typically does. That’s where the game was won, according to both head coaches. Tech was more physical and aggressive to the ball, especially off missed shots. TTU was clearly the tougher team. Houston did better in the second half and limited Tech to 35 points, but it wasn’t enough. Red Raiders star junior forward JT Toppin put up a dominant double-double of 31 points on 50% shooting and 12 rebounds. 

TTU made 12 3-pointers and shot 41% from beyond the arc and made 24/30 from the free-throw line. Houston was undisciplined in terms of fouling, and a big reason why the Red Raiders got out to an 11-point lead late in the first half was freshman big man Chris Cenac Jr. and junior forward Joseph Tugler each picking up two fouls. Both Emanuel Sharp and Flemings each had four fouls as well. 

Takeaway #2: Historic freshman performance

Freshman star point guard Kingston Flemings showed why he’s one of the best young talents in college basketball. While he wasn’t as talked about as some of the other top freshmen, Flemings has made it clear he belongs in that conversation. 

Flemings had one of the best offensive performances in recent UH history with a freshman record 42 points on 15/26 shooting, along with six assists. He went 4/9 from 3-point land in 38 minutes. Flemings scored 22 of those points in the first half and demonstrated his remarkable ability to score and make shots. 

Flemings became the first Big 12 freshman to score 40+ points in a game since Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham scored 40 points at Oklahoma in 2021. He also became the first Big 12 freshman to score 42+ points in a game since Oklahoma guard Trae Young scored 44 points against Baylor in 2018.

This was the 11th time that the San Antonio native led the team in scoring and has a team-leading eight games with at least 20 points. He’s clearly the offensive engine for Houston basketball and why they can score more points than before. 

Unfortunately, the Cougars defense will have to be better as they didn’t play as hard as Tech did. 

Up Next: at TCU, Wed., Jan. 28 at 8 p.m.