The Good, Bad and Ugly of No. 5 Houston's Massive Big 12 Semifinal Win over Kansas
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The No. 5 Houston Cougars put on arguably their best performance of the season against No. 14 Kansas in the Big 12 tournament semifinals. The Cougars clobbered the Jayhawks in an unexpected blowout, 69-47.
Houston’s defense was at its absolute best in this one, and Kansas could not do anything about it. The Cougars improved to 28-5 on the season and have now won two quad-one games in a row. Houston advances to its eighth straight conference tournament final, this time in a rematch from last season against Arizona.
Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings was the leading scorer for the 20th time this season with 21 points. Houston has won its last four out of five against Kansas. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly.
Good: Chris Cenac Jr. and the Defense
Cenac Jr. put up his best performance of the season, and it could not have come at a better time for Houston. While he didn’t match his career high of 18 points, Cenac Jr. got his most impactful double-double of 17 points and a career-high14 rebounds, as well as going 3/4 from 3-point range.
He helped Houston get in position to completely dominate in the second half. Speaking of the second half, what an incredible showing from the Cougars at the start of the period.
It was Houston’s signature defense. Kansas couldn’t even cross 50 points and shot just 25% overall from the field. This was KU’s worst offensive outing since facing Houston in Fertitta Center two years ago. This was also the Jayhawks’ worst shooting percentage in a Big 12 tournament game in 24 years (33% in 2002).
Kansas went 0/16 from the field to start the second half as Houston went on an 18-2 run that put the game away. The Jayhawks finally scored their first field goal of the second half almost halfway through the period. KU was only 19% in the second half.
Senior point guard Melvin Council Jr. was 1/14 from the field while sophomore forward Flory Bidunga added five points on just four field goal attempts. Freshman guard Darryn Peterson scored 14, but was 3/11 from the field. Houston’s senior point guard Milos Uzan somewhat bounced back with a seven-rebound performance.
Bad: Late Run by Kansas
It’s tough to say there was any bad in this dominant win, but Houston was in control from the start with a 13-2 lead and it dwindled down towards the end of the first half. The Cougars were up by double digits, but it got cut to a four-point game at 29-25 with just over a minute left.
Houston quickly brought the lead back up to eight at halftime and never looked back. The Cougars forced eight turnovers but only got three points off them.
Ugly: Injury Scare
There was not really any ugly in this game given Houston’s incredible success, but redshirt freshman forward Chase McCarty had a scary injury moment near the end of the game when the result was certain.
McCarty fell and hurt his wrist, the same one that had been bothering him since initially suffering it against TCU in late January. He was clearly in pain, but later returned to the game and seemed relatively fine. The X-rays on McCarty’s wrist were negative and he will be available against Arizona.
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.