Kingston Flemings Struggles in Houston Cougars' Big 12 Championship Loss to Arizona

It was a rough night on the hardwood for one of the nation's best freshmen.

Houston Cougars guard Kingston Flemings (4) drives to the hoop past Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) during the second half during the men's Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship at T-Mobile Center. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Even the stars in a sport have an off night every now and then and that was painfully evident when the Houston Cougars took a second loss to the Arizona Wildcats on the season Saturday night in the Big 12 Championship, 79-74.

During the loss, Houston Cougars star freshman Kingston Flemings was held in check by the top-seeded Wildcats, and was only able to produce eight points on 3-for-12 shooting from the field, including 0-for-2 from long range.

The game marked the first time that Flemings was limited to single points since February 10, when he only put up four points in a 66-52 win over the Utah Utes.

Flemings Held To Eight Points in Big 12 Title Loss

Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson talks with guard Kingston Flemings (4) during the second half against the TCU Horned Frogs at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

While scoring was scarce for the San Antonio native, he was able to record five rebounds as well as a team-high seven assists in his efforts Saturday night.

Shooting as a whole was not on the Cougars' side in Kansas City, shooting 44 percent from the field, with a respectable 38 percent from three-point land, though it wasn't the 56 percent that the team produced in their semifinal win over the Kansas Jayhawks.

Joseph Tugler led the team with 20 points and also recorded 10 rebounds, and Emanuel Sharp added 10 points of his own before fouling out later in the game, the only two starters to score in double figures for Kelvin Sampson's team.

Due to the hardships on offense, the Cougars only led for a short time early in the first half and spent the rest of the contest playing catch-up, and they even found themselves trailing by as much as 15 points during the game.

Milos Uzan drilled a three-pointer with under a minute left to cut the lead to three, but the Cougars were then forced to foul and the Wildcats would not miss at the charity stripe, eventually taking the five-point lead that gave them the victory.

Aside from the disappointing performance in the championship game, the Cougars and Flemings have no reason to hang their heads right now, as they will still likely land a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament as they look to make it to the national championship.

This also doesn't change the fact that Flemings has had a freshman season for the ages, which included him blowing the Houston freshman scoring record out of the water, a record that had stood for nearly 50 years.

The Cougars now await their official seeding as a part of Selection Sunday today at 5:00 PM on CBS.