The Good, Bad and Ugly of Houston Cougars' First Round Rout of Idaho
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The Houston Cougars demonstrated their continued dominance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-47 blowout win over the No. 15 seed Idaho Vandals in Oklahoma City on Thursday night. Houston, the No. 2 seed in the South, flexed its muscles and showed it is ready for the stage.
Houston is now 29-6 and will face the No. 10 seed Texas A&M Aggies in the second round of March Madness. Here's the good, bad and ugly of this comfortable win.
Good: Elite Shooting Across The Board
Houston still had yet to put together a complete performance from all of its starters in the same game, and that mark was finally hit in the first round of the tournament. Five players were in double figures and that included all three starting guards.
Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings put up a great performance after early jitters and was the leading scorer with 18 points on 8/12 shooting. Senior guard Emanuel Sharp bounced back with an effecient 16 points on 6/7 shooting. Senior point guard Milos Uzan also added 12 points.
Houston went on a big 20-3 run that effectively put the game away in the first half.
Junior forward Joseph Tugler also was good on offense with 13 points and was 3/4 from the line. Freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr. also chipped in with seven points but an incredible 18 rebounds.
Houston shot 50% from the field and 53% from three (8/15). The Cougars were plus 15 on the boards and had 36 points in the paint compared to 16 for Idaho. The Vandals were just 29% overall from the field. All the starters fired at once, which was an encouraging sign for the Cougars.
Bad: A Shaky Start
While basically everyone had the Cougars winning this game, some believed that Idaho could be a team that could make it close or difficult for Houston. The Vandals did look the part early in this game. The key for low seeds is to sustain it, and in most cases they cannot like in this matchup.
Idaho took its first lead of the game at 5-4 and hit a couple of 3-pointers and still had a 10-7 lead at the first media timeout. The Vandals also were up 12-9. Houston's defense was lacking a bit early as well as a few turnovers, but it all settled down.
Ugly: Not Much
It's difficult to point out anything ugly in this game for the Cougars that went really well across the board. The only thing may have been the injury scare to Chase McCarty who fell hard on the floor and took some time to get up. The last thing Houston needs is injuries.
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.