After back-to-back losses to top-10 opponents, the Cougars head to Allen Fieldhouse to face No. 14 Kansas, trying to avoid their first three-game skid since 2017.
Beyond the result, Houston is searching for growth.
“When you look at the schedule we’ve played up to this point… we won a lot of games because we were better than the other team,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. “Now, we’re playing against teams that are every bit as good as we are. That’s where some of the youth and inexperience will show up.”
A look in the mirror
The Cougars have lost consecutive games for the first time since January 2024. A three-game stretch against opponents in the AP Top 25, will test any team, and so far, Houston has come up short, falling to No. 6 Iowa State and No. 4 Arizona with another tough test to come.
For Sampson, the issues are clear: Houston is leaning too heavily on half-court offense and falling into scoring droughts without a consistent interior threat capable of drawing double teams.
Still, he believes it’s a chance to look in the mirror, one that Houston must take advantage of to fix the issues that he deems correctable.
“You have to be very careful about leaving one game and getting to the next without at least addressing some of the mistakes you are making,” he said.
Unforgiving Allen Fieldhouse
Allen Fieldhouse shows little sympathy for a team looking to clean up mistakes, especially on ESPN’s “Big Monday”, where the Jayhawks are 40-0 under coach Bill Self.
Kansas enters at 10-4 in conference play, coming off an 84-68 home loss to Cincinnati.
Still, the Jayhawks haven’t dropped back-to-back home games since the 1988-89 season.
A Houston win would carry its own significance as Sampson would become the first coach to defeat Self twice at Allen Fieldhouse.
Sampson achieved his first victory there last season as the Cougars pulled off a 92-86 double overtime miracle.
Freshman frenzy
This season, Houston is navigating uncharted territory with two freshmen in the starting lineup: guard Kingston Flemings and forward Chris Cenac Jr.
“They haven’t been through this,” Sampson said of the grueling stretch.
Still, the pair has provided steady production.
Flemings has scored 20 or more points 10 times this season. In the loss to Arizona, the San Antonio native finished with 17 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
Cenac has recorded five double-doubles, including a 13-point, 10-rebound performance against Arizona.
Kansas counters with its own freshman star in Darryn Peterson. Despite appearing in just 16 games due to injury, the projected No. 1 NBA draft pick is averaging nearly 20 points per game, reaching that mark in almost half of his appearances.
“We all know how good he is, how talented he is,” Sampson said.
Redshirt freshman forward Bryson Tiller averages 1.4 blocks per game, second only to sophomore forward Flory Bidunga. He has four games with three or more blocks, including a five-block night against Missouri in non-conference play.
Battle of the frontcourt
Each team includes a fearsome interior presence beyond the freshmen on the frontcourt.
Kansas’ Bidunga is nearly averaging a double-double on the season with 15 points and nine rebounds. The Naismith Defensive Player of the Year nominee is tied for third nationally with 74 blocked shots.
The Cougars have the reigning Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year on their side in junior forward JoJo Tugler, who, despite leading the team with 39 blocks, has had 11 games with at least four fouls and fouled out four times.
Tugler’s fouls are a symptom of his style of play, consisting of energy that is difficult to reel in.
Houston and Tugler will have to balance energy and discipline in the hectic environment of Allen Fieldhouse.
“We want to go win the game, but I also want to see us compete,” Sampson said. “Get after it. Be a tough, hard-nose team, play to our identity, play to our culture.”
The Cougars tip off against the Jayhawks on ESPN at 8 p.m. on Feb. 23.
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