The Good, Bad and Ugly of No. 8 Houston Cougars’ Win over Middle Tennessee

The No. 8 Houston Cougars faced off against Middle Tennessee State in their final non-conference game of the season, and it shockingly turned into a tight 69-60 win for Houston at the Fertitta Center on Monday night.

The Cougars end 2025 and the non-conference schedule with a 12-1 record, but the last one did not come easy against the Blue Raiders in one of the closest non-conference games at home Houston has played in around eight years.

Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings led all scorers with 15 points and five assists in 38 minutes. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly of this interestingly close game.

Good: Turnovers and Free Throws

Houston Cougars basketball — Dec 29, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars forward Joseph Tugler (11) dunks the ball as Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders center Luka Jovanovic (3) defends during the second half at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

There was not a lot of good to take away from this game, surprisingly, but one aspect remained the same: turnovers. Turnovers. In all their wins, Houston forces a lot of turnovers. It was no different in this one, with 19 turnovers forced. UH generated a whopping 30 points off them.

Additionally, the Cougars did a tremendous job in taking advantage of their free throw attempts. Four Middle Tennessee players picked up four fouls, and Houston had 17 attempts compared to just six for the Blue Raiders.

Houston made 15 of 17 for 88 percent from the line, a high mark for the Cougars. That included a 4 of 4 mark from Flemings. Junior forward Joseph Tugler also settled in offensively with 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting.

The Cougars started locking in on defense after the under-eight timeout in terms of their defensive rhythm and put together strong stretches.

Bad: Trailing and Wide Open Shots

MTSU was still leading the Cougars more than 13 minutes into the game. This was the longest Houston has trailed in a home non-conference game in a very long time. The Cougars' defense really struggled on Monday night in terms of leaving the Blue Raiders open shots, especially from beyond the arc.

Middle Tennessee was absolutely on fire from beyond the arc with four made 3-pointers within the first 10 minutes, and they eventually hit 11 triples overall on a 39 percent clip. Houston was lucky that MTSU missed a couple of shots; otherwise, it would have been even closer.

The Blue Raiders also had four players in double digits, quite a surprise against the Cougars' defense. Forward Kamari Lands scored 18 points and drained four 3-pointers as the highest scorer for the team. Middle Tennessee shot 47% from the field, while Houston was just at 41 percent. UH was only 6 of 20 from downtown.

Ugly: Physicality

MTSU shot 46 percent from the field in the first half, and that improved to 48 percent in the second half, while hitting almost half of their 3-pointers (6 of 13) in the last 20 minutes.

Middle Tennessee did a great job in rebounding and won the battle on the glass 33-31, as well as plus-five in defensive rebounding. There were a few possessions where the Blue Raiders got multiple offensive rebounds and made the Cougars really work for it.

Additionally, Houston did a poor job at times with fouling and gave MTSU multiple and-one opportunities. UH started 5/17 from the field, almost halfway through the first half. It was not the best shooting night for the Coogs early.

Houston has never lost a home non-conference game since the 2017-18 season, and this was one of the closest calls since then.

Houston will now travel to take on Cincinnati on Saturday to open up Big 12 conference play.