The Good, Bad and Ugly of No. 10 Houston Cougars’ Gritty Win over TCU
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The No. 10 Houston Cougars got back on track in the win column with a 79-70 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth on Wednesday night.
Houston improves to 18-2 overall on the season and 6-1 in the Big 12, while TCU further drops to 13-8 and 3-5 in the conference. This was not an easy win by any stretch of the imagination, and the Horned Frogs are a better team than their record. In fact, TCU has a winning record over top 10 teams at home, demonstrating the tough win the Cougars got at Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena.
Houston has now won 12 out of its last 13 games. UH was tested at various points in this game, but came out on top.
Here’s the good, bad, and ugly.
Good: Freshman Making Plays
All three of the freshmen stood out in different ways in this game. While there were frustrating moments, there was a lot of good to point out. Freshman big man Chris Cenac Jr. had one of the better defensive games of his young career.
He grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds, some of which were very physical and involved wrestling with the opponent. Cenac Jr. also added three steals and a block. Houston ended up just barely winning the battle of the boards thanks to Cenac Jr.
Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings was the leading scorer once again with 27 points on 50% shooting, as well as going 9/9 from the free throw line. He was the primary offense for the Cougars when nothing else was working.
The now No. 5 projected pick in the NBA draft continues to shine on offense. Additionally, he dished out five assists and also claimed five rebounds. Even freshman guard Isiah Harwell contributed on the defense side of the ball, even though he had nothing to show for in that stat sheet.
Senior guard Emanuel Sharp has been a good second hand to the offense as he chipped in 23 points on 8/16 shooting just like Flemings. Houston did well shooting wise in the first half with a 62% clip from the field.
It wasn’t the best shooting game overall, but the Coogs did make nine threes. What was particularly impressive was Houston going 22/24 (92 percent) from the free throw line. That has been an area of struggle in the past, but UH did really well in this department. It was a big reason why the Cougars won.
Bad: Turnovers and Cold Stretch
While the Cougars made some nice baskets early in the first half, the turnovers and sloppiness with the ball stood out. It was very unusual for a Kelvin Sampson-led team to be that careless with the basketball. Houston had eight turnovers in the first half, and four of them were by Flemings. He occasionally struggles in that area.
Houston cleaned that up in the second half with only three turnovers, but TCU was still able to get 14 points total off turnovers, which was one more than the Cougars.
Houston went 1/11 from the field to start the second half and that opened the door for the Horned Frogs to get back in it. UH was unable to attack effectively and even get inside the paint. TCU outscored Houston in the paint 36-20. The only reason the Cougars somehow survived in the second half was because of Flemings.
UH shot just 29% from the field in the last 20 minutes and were 3/11 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, TCU was 54% from the field.
Ugly: Fouling Yet Again
Teams have been able to take advantage of Houston’s aggressiveness in fouling. It played a big role in this one. The Cougars ended up with three players having at least four fouls in the game. Sharp even picked up five and had to sit out for the last minute or so.
It was a struggle for junior forward Joseph Tugler, who put up 0 points but got called for four fouls. He could only play 10 minutes, which is extremely low for a starter. That significantly affected Houston’s defense, as the Big 12 defensive player of the year was not on the floor.
Tugler was not able to be aggressive in defending the paint, which allowed TCU to attack him. Additionally, backup senior center Kalifa Sakho also picked up four fouls.
As it is with most Houston games, it got physical. There was some concern for Coog fans as two big injury scares happened. Redshirt freshman guard Chase McCarty hit a 3-pointer but was in immediate pain with his hand right after and had to run off the court. He eventually re-entered the game towards the end.
Late in the second half, Sharp took a hard fall to the floor that looked dangerous. The TCU fans started booing when Sharp was on the ground as play had to be stopped, but he was clearly hurt and took a good minute to get up. He showed some real toughness to come back in the game after a timeout and additionally make an and-one play.
Up next, the Cougars will return home to take on Cincinnati for the second time this season on Saturday inside Fertitta Center at 11 a.m.
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.