The Good, Bad and Ugly from No. 7 Houston Cougars’ Incredible Win over No. 14 Texas Tech
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When the Houston Cougars and Texas Tech Red Raiders play each other in the Big 12 these days, there is no shortage of entertainment. These two programs give everything they have in these tightly contested games.
It was no different on Tuesday night, where No. 7 Houston stormed back and beat No. 14 Texas Tech 69-65 at the Fertitta Center in Houston in one of the best games of the season.
After winning their conference home opener, the Cougars improved to 14-1 and 2-0 in the Big 12, while the Red Raiders fell to 11-4. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly of this thriller.
Good: Kingston Flemings, Clutch Last Two Minutes
Cougars fans are celebrating the new king of Houston this week, Kingston Flemings. The freshman phenom point guard saved Houston at the end against Texas Tech when the Cougars desperately needed some offense.
Houston was down 59-55 with 3:38 to go, and the UH defense limited Tech to just three points the rest of the way. That set the stage for Flemings. Houston is willing to put the ball in his hands at the end for a reason. After forcing a shot clock violation on defense with a 59-57 score, Flemings calmly pulled up from the top of the key and drained the clutch 3-pointer for the lead.
After Tech tied it again, Flemings went to work and hit another pull-up fade-away jumper to take the lead back. Houston’s defense got a stop, but senior point guard Milos Uzan missed his free throw. Freshman big man Chris Cenac Jr. grabbed the critical offensive rebound and ended up making his free throw.
The Red Raiders responded and were still in it down 63-62, but Flemings fittingly put the nail in the coffin with a cold-blooded 3-pointer with 30 seconds left as the shot clock went down. The last three Houston field goals were all from Flemings. While it wasn’t his best game in the beginning, there’s nothing better than stepping up in the clutch.
The San Antonio native led the team with 23 points, five assists, and three rebounds with only two turnovers. Flemings also made some excellent passes to Cenac Jr. for some wide-open dunks.
Senior guard Emanuel Sharp needed to bounce back, and he came to life in this one with 17 points, 11 of them in the first half. Junior forward Joseph Tugler also played well overall with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Cenac Jr. showed up with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds as well.
Forcing turnovers is always a huge factor for Houston, and it played a role in this one as the Cougars forced 14 against the Red Raiders that resulted in 13 points. Compare that to just 4 points off turnovers for Tech.
Defensively, the Cougars did well in pick-and-roll defense, blitzing Tech sophomore guard Christian Anderson furiously as they usually do being one of the best defenses in that area. Anderson only scored seven points.
Bad: Offensive Droughts, Tech Threes
Houston started 3/11 from the field to begin. There were a couple of scoring droughts throughout the game, and UH was lucky to be only down a couple of points thanks to their defense. When Texas Tech went on their run late in the second half, it seemed like Houston couldn’t buy offense.
The Cougars have struggled with offensive lulls at times, and UH went into a more than four-minute scoring drought late in the second half. Houston had multiple good looks close to the rim when they were down just one possession but could not find the bottom.
Additionally, Texas Tech made some big-time 3-pointers. Houston left some of their shooters open. The Cougars were up 31-26 with just over two minutes to go and seemed in control, but the Red Raiders went on a 5-0 run to close the first half on a tie.
Ugly: Fouls, 3-Point Shooting
Given how tough and physical both teams are, fouls were going to be common. Both teams had at least 15. Sophomore forward J.T. Toppin was called for a debatable “incidental” contact foul early again. He was ejected for a similar play in last year’s game in Houston.
This was one of the worst 3-point shooting performances seen by the Cougars in quite some time. Their defense is what allowed this game to stay close. Houston was 4/17 (24 percent) from three-point range, and remarkably still won the game. The Cougars only shot 39% overall and showed they can still win even when not shooting great. Tech made nine 3-pointers in the game.
Freshman guard Jalen Petty was a big problem for Houston to deal with, and he was flying around all over the place. Petty put up 20 points and was on fire from 3-point range. He was 5/9 from beyond the arc, and made some tough shots in a difficult environment. UH did not really have an answer for him.
Next up, Houston goes on the road to take on Baylor on Saturday.
Maanav Gupta is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He graduated from the University of Houston in the summer of 2025 with his bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in Spanish. Gupta spent three years at the student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, and also covered the 2025 Final Four and National Championship as Houston beat writer for College Basketball Review. He also has his own YouTube channel, Maanav’s Sports Talk, where he has interviewed professional athletes and broadcasters like Jim Nantz, Jose Altuve, J.J. Watt, Rich Eisen, and Alperen Sengun. Gupta was also a contributor to the Houston athletic program as a student. You can find Gupta on X, Instagram and TikTok @MGSportsTalk.