The Good, Bad, and Ugly of No. 2 Houston Cougars Basketball’s Win over Towson
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It was not Houston basketball's best game, to put it lightly, but the No. 2 Cougars got their second victory of the season over Towson 65-48 in the Fertitta Center Saturday afternoon. Like coach Kelvin Sampson has said in the past, it’s never a beauty contest for them.
There was a lot to take away from this game, and Houston went on a 14-0 run over the last seven minutes to easily win it. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly.
Good: Flemings and Early First Half Shooting
Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings was impressively the leading scorer in this game with 20 points on 8/10 shooting, along with three assists. He had 11 points in the second half and really started to take over late for the Cougars as they comfortably won in the end. Flemings showed all aspects of his offensive game with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, excellent moves to get to the rim, and free throw shooting.
While Houston only shot 25% from three for the game, the start of the game was excellent for the Cougars from beyond the arc. Senior guard Emanuel Sharp put up nine points today, but had a quick six to start the game on back-to-back threes. Senior point guard Milos Uzan also chipped in with 11 points, six assists and three 3-pointers.
The experienced members of the bench hit from downtown as well. Sophomore guard Mercy Miller played really well, and redshirt freshman forward Chase McCarty made an impact off the bench with a triple.
Bad: Some Real Sloppy Turnovers
It is expected that there will be growing pains for Houston to begin this season, with all the inexperience the three-star freshman bring in. This is the youngest team that Houston has brought out onto the court, and the non-conference games will provide an important opportunity for Flemings, Cenac Jr. and Isiah Harwell to develop and adapt to the culture.
With that being said, turnovers will be a common sight to see during the first few months of the season. It was no different in this one as Cenac Jr. and Flemings each had three in the first half. Some were just bad passes that did not have much anticipation on them, and some were a bit careless. The timing was just a bit off between them and their teammates.
In total, Houston had 12 turnovers, but it only resulted in 12 points for Towson. The Tigers also forced nine steals.
It did not change much in the second half, as this time it was back-to-back bad passes, one from junior forward Joseph Tugler and the other from Sharp, which resulted in turnovers and two dunks for the Tigers. Sampson had to call a timeout right after. Tugler ended up with three giveaways as well, something he struggled with last year as well.
Towson was able to take advantage of them for the most part. Even though the Cougars forced fewer turnovers, they made more use of the opportunities. UH scored 22 points off 18 turnovers forced.
Ugly: Getting Out Rebounded
Shockingly, the Cougars were getting out-rebounded by Towson 19-17 at halftime. It’s widely known how Houston dominates on the offensive and defensive glass as a key component of their team identity to generate extra possessions and be tough.
Houston could just not come up with the ball defensively. The Tigers did a great job of matching the famous physicality of the Cougars and were right there to grab the rebound. Towson won the rebounding battle 11-10 defensively and 8-7 offensively.
UH was not able to increase its lead for most of the game because of this, and the lead was cut down to one possession at 38-35 with just under 15 minutes to go. Overall, the rebounding numbers were a tie between the teams, which is quite impressive for Towson. The Cougars eventually won on the offensive glass 12-9, but lost defensively 26-23.
Freshman stretch big Chris Cenac Jr. was the leading rebounder once again for the Cougars with 13. The 6-foot-11 Cenac Jr. gives the Cougars a true force in the paint, and that will continue to materialize as the season goes on. Sampson thought he was the one who played the best tonight.
Defensively, Towson was able to blow by Cougars defenders throughout the game and get easy shots in the paint. Houston tightened up in that towards the final few minutes.
The Cougars will continue to improve as they take on Oakland on Wednesday at the Fertitta Center.
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.