Houston Freshman Continues Strong March Madness Performance
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The Houston Cougars will be heading to their seventh straight Sweet Sixteen appearance after another comfortable victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars cruised through their first game of the NCAA Tournament, easily taking care of the Idaho Vandals 78-47, which set up a meeting with the No. 10-seeded Texas A&M Aggies, which proceeded to be another uncontested win.
Houston booked itself another trip to the Sweet Sixteen, taking care of the Aggies with a blowout 88-57 win, and the Cougars will return home with the matchup held at the Toyota Center, taking on No. 3-seeded Illinois. In what was a complete team effort, one of the Cougars young players stood out with his performance.
Chris Cenac Jr. Turns in Another Solid Performance
Of the two Cougars freshmen in the starting lineup, guard Kingston Flemings has been the one standing out throughout the season, with the guard having an All-American level year. However, in the win over the Aggies, he didn't have his highest-scoring night, with just nine points; forward Chris Cenac Jr., on the other hand, had a strong night.
Cenac Jr. ended the night as the Cougars second leading scorer with 17 points to his count while shooting 55.6 percent from the field, making 5 of his 9 shot attempts and the big man was also 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.
Not only was the freshman impactful scoring the basektball, but he also affected the game in other areas as he brought down a game-high nine rebounds, three of which were on the offensive glass, and recorded a block.
The forward also turned in a solid performance in his NCAA Tournament debut against Idaho, in which he tallied seven points and a resounding 18 rebounds in the ballgame. Over the course of Houston's two games in the NCAA tournament, Cenac Jr. is averaging 12 points per game while shooting 52.8 percent from the field, along with 13.5 rebounds per game.
"Playing to my strengths," Cenac Jr. said after the win over Idaho. "I knew that they don't really crash the offensive boards like that, so there were going to be opportunities, and just staying confident and going every time."
The freshman also received some praise from head coach Kelvin Sampson after his 18-rebound performance against Idaho.
"Chris' motor tonight was outstanding," Sampson said. "Getting 18 rebounds, 12 in the first half, six in the second, which keeps them off the offensive boards."
Now Cenac Jr. and the Cougars will look to continue rolling heading into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and in their next matchup, a ticket to the Elite Eight will be on the line as Houston takes on Illinois.
