Houston Cougars Scoring Finally Comes Alive in Comfortable Win vs. Rider
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The Houston Cougars are flying fast to start the 2025-26 season, and to nobody's surprise, with the high level of young and veteran talent Kelvin Sampson has been able to build at Houston. And against the Rider Broncs on Thursday night, it was no different as the Cougars blew past Rider 91-45 to begin the season a perfect 5-0.
To no surprise, the Cougars' defense has been the strongest piece of the team as it's been for many years now. And it's no different this year as Houston has held all five of its opponents to under 80 points, and against Rider, the defense tied a season best for the Cougars' defensive side of the court, giving up just 45 on the night for the second time this year.
And while the Cougars have started out slower on the other end of the court, the Coogs' scoring might have finally found its rhythm against Rider, which will be much needed as Houston begins a three-game stretch against Power 4 non-conference opponents.
Houston Reaches This Scoring Mark for the First Time This Season
Throughout the Cougars' first four games of the season, they had yet to come close to the 90-point mark, as the Coogs still hadn't even crossed over 80 points scored in a game, with the closest they had gotten was scoring 78 against Oakland a little over a week ago.
However, against Rider, the Cougars were finally able to piece together a high-scoring performance, scoring a season-high 91 points on the night, led by budding star in true freshman guard Kingston Flemings, who led the way with 18 points, shooting an impressive 80 percent from the field with five assists, two steals, and a block.
The Coogs also received a big contribution from sophomore guard Mercy Miller off the bench, with Miller finishing the night as the Coogs' third leading scorer with 14 points, while hitting 60 percent of his field goal attempts to go along with three steals, two rebounds, and an assist, all in just 25 minutes of playing time.
As a team, the Coogs had their best night from beyond the arc, making double-digit three-pointers for the first time this season, making 10 of their 26 shots from beyond the arc for a near 40 percent shooting percentage.
Additionally, Houston shot the ball the best it's done all season on Thursday night, finishing with a season-best 56 percent made field goal percentage, making 37 of its 66 field goal attempts. And the Coogs were perfect from the foul line for the first time this season, making all seven of their free throw attempts.
