Kingston Flemings’ second-seeded Houston Cougars had no problem registering a 78-47 win over the 15th-seeded Idaho in South Region first-round action Thursday at Oklahoma City. The Cougars are now scheduled to face No. 10 seed Texas A&M in Saturday’s second round.
Flemings played 28 minutes to score 18 points, shooting 8-12 from the field. He also had six rebounds, four assists and two steals along with two turnovers. He was well supported by Emmanuel Sharp, who had 16 points, four rebounds and two assists. Moreover, Cougars’ freshman Chris Cenac Jr. collected a season-best 18 rebounds. JoJo Tugler’s 13 points, Milos Uzan’s 12 and Mercy Miller’s 10 also played small hands in the win.
Flemings was particularly impressive in the first half, converting all six of his shots for 14 points to go along with Sharp’s 12 points, as Houston entered halftime with a 48-24 lead. Flemings now looks forward to the game against Texas A&M.
“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).”
Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson reacted after the win:
“All in all, a good first game. You put it in your belt and move on down the road. Tough one on Saturday.”
On the other hand, Idaho head coach Alex Pribble is content with his team’s performance, saying it took a lot of hard work to be part of March Madness.
“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 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.”
Kelvin Sampson Always Thought Kingston Flemings Was Special
Before the first round matchup against Idaho, Kelvin Sampson delved into his recruit, Kingston Flemings, who is turning heads in his freshman season. Sampson said Fleming’s recruitment was based on trust and relationships.
“Recruiting Kingston, you had to go through the process,” Sampson said. “It’s not easy to gain Kingston’s trust. That’s based on relationships. He’s got to be able to trust you. Nobody was going to influence Kingston’s decision, it was going to be his decision based on his trust in you.”
Flemings has turned out to be one of the best freshman guards in the country and his ability to create offense has really benefited the program to finish with a conference record of 14-4 and an overall record of 26-5 after the regular season. Sampson could have filled the void with a transfer portal move but he always thought the guard was special.
“We could have stayed old and just taken transfer portal kids,” Sampson added. “You always have that option, but I always thought Kingston was special. There was something about him.”
Flemings is proving Sampson right with his performances now being noted in the NCAA Tournament.
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