Lack of rebounding unravels No. 6 Houston despite 42 points from Flemings

No. 6 Houston men’s basketball has built its identity on physicality and rebounding. On Saturday in Lubbock, No. 12 Texas Tech used that same formula against it.

“Texas Tech did an awesome awesome job on the offensive boards,” coach Kelvin Sampson said after Houston’s 90-86 loss. “They did to us what we’ve made a living doing to other people.”

Even as freshman, guard Kingston Flemings scored 42 points—the most by a Cougar since Robert McKiver scored 52 in 2008–one of the nation’s best rebounding teams lost the battle on the glass 44-28.

Early foul trouble limited freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr. and junior forward JoJo Tugler, disrupting Houston’s identity and allowing Texas Tech to dominate the boards. Senior forward JT Toppin led the way with 12 rebounds to go along with 31 points.

“The game didn’t come down to either one of them. Kingston happened to be scoring, Toppin happened to be scoring, but we’ve got enough guys that if Kingston wasn’t shooting somebody else can score,” Sampson said. “The game came down to one area, and that’s where they were really good. When they shot and missed the ball they scored 22 points off their misses. That’s an area, whenever you think of our program that’s a big reason why we have been so successful.”

Flemings scored 22 points in the first half and closed the period with Houston’s final six, cutting the Cougars’ deficit to a two-possession game after Texas Tech had built a lead as large as 11 soon after a 14-0 run. 

The Red Raiders’ 55 first-half points marked the most Houston has allowed in a half during the Sampson era.

On the other side of the break, the Cougars held tech to 12 points in the first 10 minutes.

With just under seven minutes, redshirt freshman forward Chase McCarty hit a critical 3-pointer to give Houston a 76-75 lead.

Then, senior guard Donovan Atwell hit nearly identical and game-changing corner 3s from the right side, as Flemings and McCarty’s defense faltered. 

“He shouldn’t have gotten those off,” Sampson said.

Those were Tech’s only 3-pointers of the half after they put up 10 in the first compared to Houston’s seven.

What the Red Raiders lacked in perimeter scoring they continued to make up for on the glass, tallying nine more second-half rebounds than Houston, with a 26-17 margin.

Despite Houston missing its hallmarks, Flemings’ heroics kept its hopes of extending its nation-best 16-game conference road winning streak alive.

However, down three with 22 seconds remaining, Flemings went up for a 3-pointer, extending his leg and getting called for a costly offensive foul.

“I’m not going to sit here and b—- about the referees when they kicked our ass the way they did on the offensive glass,” Sampson said.

To him, it wasn’t about the loss. It was more about how they got beat at their own brand of basketball. 

“I’m not disappointed that we lost. I mean, you’re going to lose,” he said, referencing the end of Houston’s 16-game road winning streak. “I mean, who does that? Nobody. You’re not supposed to do that. I just thought we could have played better, competed a little bit harder.”

Next, 17-2 Houston will face TCU on Wednesday Jan. 28 in Fort Worth.