No. 3 Houston will not have to wait long for a chance to move away from its first loss of the season when the Cougars face Notre Dame in a consolation game of the Players Era men’s championship on Wednesday afternoon at Las Vegas.
Houston (6-1) fell short in a marquee matchup against Tennessee on Tuesday, dropping a 76-73 decision. Kingston Flemings made a 3-pointer to pull the Cougars within one point with seven seconds remaining, but Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie sank six free throws in the final 35 seconds — including two with five seconds left — to seal the win.
Flemings, a freshman, finished with a season-high 25 points to give him three games of at least 20 points this season.
Milos Uzan, a Las Vegas native, scored 17 points and Chris Cenac Jr. added 11 rebounds as the Cougars lost after leading by five points with 15:46 remaining in the game. Tennessee shot 47.1% from the floor, the highest of any Houston opponent this season.
And yet the biggest difference was that Tennessee went 23 of 29 from the free-throw line, while Houston went 8 of 11. The Cougars were called for 21 fouls, with Cenac fouling out, while the Volunteers were whistled for 15.
“The difference in the game was the free throws,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said after Gillespie went 9 of 9 from the line, while Flemings went 2 of 2.
“I’m not saying we weren’t fouling, but they were, too. Both teams were aggressive. Tough defense. Boom, boom, boom. But it shouldn’t be 29-11 (on free-throw attempts).”
The Cougars did not allow an opponent to shoot better than 38.8% until getting to Las Vegas. In a 78-74 overtime victory over Syracuse on Monday, the Orange shot 42.9% and made eight 3-pointers.
Houston was unable to match the success it had against Tennessee in the Elite Eight last season, when it advanced to the Final Four with a 69-50 victory. The Cougars ended up losing in the title game to Florida.
Notre Dame also went 1-1 over its first two scheduled games at Las Vegas, falling 71-61 to Kansas on Monday before earning a 68-63 victory over Rutgers on Tuesday.
Markus Burton scored 21 points in the victory for the Fighting Irish (5-2) for his third consecutive game of at least 20 points and his fifth on the season. He also added six rebounds and five assists.
Jalen Haralson recorded 15 points while Braeden Shrewsberry added 13. Notre Dame held Rutgers to 39.2% shooting from the floor and had a 37-28 rebounding advantage. The offense shot 49.1% after shooting 34.4% in the loss to Kansas.
Notre Dame was up by 19 in the first half, led 36-24 at the break, then saw Rutgers pull within 60-56 with 5:56 remaining before going on a decisive 7-0 run to lead with 2:53 left.
“There were moments where we did play with some calm and we got some baskets to kind of weather the storm,” Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “That’s important for us to get and to see early in the season.”
–Field Level Media
