“We just ran out of steam”: No. 5 Houston suffers first three-game losing streak since 2017 with loss at No. 14 Kansas

They had nothing left to give. They stood there, lifeless, staring into the Phog inside Allen Fieldhouse as a three-game Top 15 gauntlet finally swallowed them whole.

“Tonight, we just ran out of steam,” coach Kelvin Sampson said after No. 5 Houston fell 69–56 to No. 14 Kansas. “We just had nothing down the stretch.”

Senior guards Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan walked to the bench with more than seven minutes remaining, forced to watch as the Jayhawks’ lead ballooned to 20. It was Houston’s largest deficit of the season.

“They just had no legs,” Sampson said. “They were done.”

Now, a three-game skid, the program’s first since 2017, stares them down.

“I don’t know if anybody had to play three straight games like this,” he said, comparing the stretch to an NBA team facing the Thunder, Spurs and Pistons.

What began as an opportunity to “shock the world” during last week’s “Big Monday” turned into a reality check, as the Cougars blew a 10-point lead in the final seven minutes at No. 6 Iowa State. They returned home and held a lead for less than two minutes against No. 4 Arizona.

Just over 48 hours later, they arrived in Lawrence with history working against them. Kansas had never lost a “Big Monday” game in the building under coach Bill Self, going 40-0. The Jayhawks also had not dropped consecutive home games since the 1989-90 season, entering off a 16-point loss to Cincinnati.

“I kind of knew what we were coming in here for,” Sampson said. “I knew Bill (Self’s) kids were going to be really, really excited.”

Senior guard Tre White scored a game-high 23 points, while freshman guard Darryn Peterson added 14. Redshirt freshman forward Bryson Tiller recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

In the second half, a 3-pointer from freshman Chris Cenac Jr. pulled Houston within two with 17:01 remaining, but it missed its next nine shots as Kansas went on a 12-0 run.

Houston led by as many as seven in the first half before an 11-0 run erased the advantage before the break. Sharp did not score in the opening half and finished 1-for-10 from the field for the game, with the team shooting just 32% from the field.

“I think these three games, even though we’re disappointed we lost them, it’s not the end of the world,” Sampson said. “I think we can take these opportunities to help us in March and get better.”

Sampson’s challenge has shifted. A year ago, he leaned on a highly veteran roster. Now, his starting lineup features two freshmen: guard Kingston Flemings and Cenac.

Flemings was the lone Cougar in double figures, scoring 16 points. Cenac and redshirt freshman Chase McCarty each pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Mercy Miller chipped in nine points and five boards off the bench.

“They haven’t been through this before,” coach Kelvin Sampson said of the young core, pointing to the toll of the three-game gauntlet.

The burden had fallen heavily on the veterans, and by the final stretch, it showed. Junior forward JoJo Tugler was the only upperclassman on the floor in the closing minutes, a lineup that Sampson praised for its fight.

“I was proud of my guys,” he said. “We’re not going to jump off a bridge because we lost this game.”

Next, Houston will try to regroup at home against the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday, Feb. 28.