Houston's Road Winning Streak Ends With Loss To Texas Tech
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Houston basketball suffered a narrow 90-86 loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday afternoon, inside United Supermarkets Arena, in Lubbock, Texas.
With the loss, the Cougars split the season series with Texas Tech, and their sixteen-game road winning streak is no more.
Houston now falls to 17-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big 12 Conference.
Houston vs Texas Tech Game Recap
With the bright lights on in the biggest game of the weekend, freshman guard Kingston Flemings was unstoppable, further showing why he is a projected top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
He cruised to lead all scorers in the first half with 22 points, but both teams could not miss.
Houston allows an average of 60 points per game to opposing offenses, which ranks No. 2 in the entire NCAA.
However, Texas Tech led 55-49 at halftime, and the Red Raiders showed why they are the best three-point shooting team in the conference by making 12 threes in the game.
A late 14-0 run in the first half by the Red Raiders was the largest run by an opposing team that the Cougars have allowed all season, and it was a big reason why they trailed at the half.
To begin the second half, Houston tightened up their three-point defense, and they only allowed Texas Tech to make two from behind the arc in the period.
Unfortunately for Houston, those two threes came late in the game on back-to-back possessions by senior guard Donovan Atwell, giving Texas Tech a lead that the Cougars were unable to overcome as they fell 90-86.
Flemings was the star of the game, breaking out for a season-high 42 points, and the young guard will be a problem the rest of the season.
Senior guard Emanuel Sharp followed in scoring with 20 points, and he made several tough shots to keep Houston in the game.
His biggest contribution to the team was holding Texas Tech’s star point guard to just 12 points on 2-for-9 shooting, and he is defending at an elite level this season.
Outside of Sharp and Flemings, the lack of offensive production from the rest of the team, and the inability to grab rebounds is why Houston is going home with a loss.
Senior guard Milos Uzan was the hero last year in Lubbock as he led the Cougars to victory. This time around, he ended with just six points and he had a quiet afternoon from the field.
Houston’s two front court starters, junior forward Joseph Tugler and freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr. also only combined for six points in the game, and the lack of paint presence on the offensive end continues to be an issue.
All things considered, a narrow four-point loss to one of the best all-around teams in the country is yet another learning point for the Cougars, and they continue to show flashes of how good they could become in March.
Ashton Grissom is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He is currently a senior at the University of Houston and majoring in Sports Media Production with a minor in Marketing and Spanish. He also works for two student organizations: The Cougar and CoogTV. You can find Grissom on his Instagram (@ashtonagrissom8) or Twitter (@ashtongrissom8).