Kingston Flemings scored 18 points and Emanuel Sharp added 16 on 6-of-7 shooting to help second-seeded Houston roll to a 78-47 victory over 15th-seeded Idaho in South Region first-round action Thursday at Oklahoma City.
Freshman Chris Cenac Jr. collected a season-best 18 rebounds as the Cougars (29-6) held a 47-32 edge on the boards. JoJo Tugler added 13 points, Milos Uzan scored 12 and Mercy Miller added 10 for Houston.
“All in all, a good first game,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. “You put it in your belt and move on down the road. Tough one on Saturday.”
The Cougars will face No. 10 seed Texas A&M in Saturday’s second round. The Aggies beat Saint Mary’s on Thursday.
Kolton Mitchell scored 14 points for the Vandals (21-15), who had a five-game winning streak halted and lost for just the second time in 10 games.
“Not the result we were looking for, obviously, but at this point I’m just filled with an extreme sense of pride and gratitude,” said Idaho coach Alex Pribble. “I think our guys really battled to put themselves in a position where they could play in March Madness. They played seven games in 13 days leading up to this, an emotionally draining run through (the Big Sky) conference tournament.”
Idaho shot just 28.6% from the field and were a dreadful 6 of 30 from 3-point range in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990.
Houston shot 50% from the field, including 8 of 15 from behind the arc, while leading by as many as 33 points.
Flemings had 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting and Sharp added 12 points and hit all three of his 3-point attempts as the Cougars led 48-24 at halftime.
“You always dream about this as a kid,” said Flemings. “I’m excited to play with this team. We played a good Idaho team. They competed from start to finish. We’ll get ready for Texas A&M (on Friday).”
Idaho led 12-9 on Trevon Blassingame’s layup with 14:40 left in the first half before Houston erupted on a 24-3 burst that included eight consecutive made shots at the outset.
Sharp converted a four-point play and followed with a trey to give the Cougars a 16-12 advantage. Sharp knocked down another 3-pointer to give Houston a nine-point edge with 12:31 remaining.
After Idaho’s Jack Payne banked in a 3-pointer to pull his team within 21-15, Houston rolled off 12 consecutive points. Flemings started that run with two straight baskets, while Tugler’s layup culminated the made-shots streak to give the Cougars a 31-15 lead with 9:34 left.
Sharp then hit a jumper to cap the burst and give the Cougars an 18-point lead.
Houston had an 11-0 run later in the half en route to the 24-point halftime cushion.
The Cougars continued to lead comfortably the entire second half. The lead reached 30 for the first time when Uzan canned a trey to make it 70-40 with 5:54 left in the contest.
–Field Level Media
