The Good, Bad and Ugly of Houston Cougars' Loss to Texas Tech
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The No. 6 Houston Cougars were not able to outlast No. 12 Texas Tech and lost their first Big 12 game of the season 90-86 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock on Saturday afternoon.
Houston’s historic 16-game road winning streak that extended till mid-2024 came to an end up in Northern Texas. The Cougars had entered with an 11-game win streak and 18 consecutive Big 12 victories (including the Big 12 tournament). Texas Tech once again broke all those win streaks just like it did last season.
Houston’s only Big 12 loss last season was to Texas Tech at home in overtime, and its first conference loss this season was to the Red Raiders once again. The Cougars had a 33-game home win streak that stretched up to last season, and Tech put that to an end in 2025.
Texas Tech clearly has given Houston issues more so than any other Big 12 team. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly.
Good: Kingston Flemings and the Offense
The Cougars have been able to score a lot more points this season than they have in the past. Their offensive potential is clearly much higher this year. The main reason for that is freshman phenom point guard Kingston Flemings.
Now ranked as ESPN’s No. 5 prospect in the 2026 NBA Draft, Flemings put up an absolutely incredible offensive performance. Flemings remarkably scored 42 points on 15/26 (58 percent) shooting. This was a Houston freshman record and one of the best single-game offensive showcases in recent UH history.
Flemings also added six assists. He became the first Big 12 freshman with at least 30 points and five assists on the road since Trae Young in 2018 with Oklahoma against Oklahoma State.
Houston shot 39% from three (11/28) and 81% (17/21) from the free throw line. The Cougars were 48% overall from the field. Ultimately, their struggles in other areas made their demise. Senior guard Emanuel Sharp added 20 points of his own, but there was not much to speak of besides them.
The Cougars had 49 points in the first half, and were just on fire in that period, shooting more than 60% from the field and from three.
Bad: 1st Half Defense
The 55 points was more than a Sampson team has given up in the first half since he took over at Houston in 2014. That is a crazy statistic that showed the immense defensive struggles the Cougars were going through in the first 20 minutes.
A lot of credit needs to be given to Texas Tech to pull something like that off. The Red Raiders also shot really well in the first half like Houston, making it an offensive game. TTU shot 52% from the field and 53% from beyond the arc (10 threes).
UH limited Tech to 35 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough. The Red Raiders had 14 second-chance points in the first half compared to five for Houston. They also had 10 points off four turnovers while Houston had only six points off five turnovers.
While junior forward JT Toppin will score his points, Houston had done well to somewhat limit him. That was not the case in this game as the reigning Big 12 player of the year put up 31 points on 50% shooting along with 12 rebounds in 40 minutes.
Ugly: Rebounding and Fouling Causing Problems
The main story of this game was Texas Tech destroyed Houston at their own game. While head coach Grant McCasland and Sampson preach a similar mindset, it was the Red Raiders that were just so much better. Houston clearly got out-toughed and Texas Tech was way more aggressive across the board.
The box score in this game was very unlike Houston and surprising to see. It’s very unlike Houston. The Cougars were not even close in the rebounding battle that they lost 44-28. Texas Tech had 10 more offensive rebounds (21-11) and added double the amount of second-chance points as Houston (22-11).
Houston typically dominates in the turnovers category, but the Red Raiders limited that and won the battle. Tech got 13 points off six UH turnovers compared to 11 points off 10 TTU turnovers. Houston did not take advantage of their opportunities. Very rarely do you see another team get after loose balls more than the Cougars in a game.
Fouling was an issue for Houston in the first half with junior forward Joseph Tugler and freshman stretch big Chris Cenac Jr. each having two. UH had the lead at that time, and it quickly went away. Tech took advantage and found an 11-point lead.
While both teams shot the same amount of free throws in the first half, Texas Tech had double the shot attempts in the second. Houston was 7 of 9 in the second half while TTU was 13 of 18. That was a huge difference.
While some fouls did not go Houston’s way, the Cougars were undisciplined. Six UH players had at least three fouls, with Flemings and Sharp having four.
The Cougars will look to rebound on Wednesday in another road game at TCU.
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.