Houston’s recent history in the first round of the NCAA Tournament has been a successful one and Thursday’s game with the Idaho Vandals was no exception.
The No. 2 seeded Cougars defeated the No. 15 Vandals, 78-47, in the first round of the South Regional in Oklahoma City. With the victory, the Cougars (29-6) will get Texas A&M in the second round, a matchup of former Southwest Conference rivals. That game is set for Saturday.
The game wrapped up a 2-1 day for the Big 12 on Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament. TCU beat Ohio State while Texas beat BYU. Five more Big 12 teams play their tournament openers on Friday.
Here are the takeaways from the game.
Sharp-en Up
Houston guard Emanuel Sharp’s season has been strange. He’s enjoying the best statistical season of his career, averaging 15.3 points per game. But he has, at times, been inconsistent. He has also been overshadowed by freshman Kingston Flemings. But it’s March and it is winning time, so to speak. On Thursday, Sharp showed he’s ready to go to work.
Idaho had a foothold in the game early and Sharp took care of that with three 3-pointers in the first half as Houston built a 48-24 lead. It was how he did it that got my attention. His first 3-pointer tied the game at 12 and he drew a foul in the process, turning it into a four-point play and a 13-12 Houston lead.
Then he went off. He made another 3-pointer on the next possession. After Flemings scored his own basket, he drained another 3-pointer that made it 21-12. That was in about two minutes of game. Sharp turned the game on its head with 10 points in a two-minute span. Shortly after, he was the final basket in a 12-0 run to make it 33-15 Houston and the game was essentially over. He finished with 16 points.
If this is the Sharp that shows up every game of this tournament, he’ll make the Cougars so much harder to deal with offensively.
“Freshman-y”
That’s a new word, coined by Houston coach Kelvin Sampson during an in-game interview about the start of his star freshmen, Flemings and forward Chris Cenac.
The pair started slowly but they turned it on fast. Flemings finished with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists, He clearly got more comfortable as the game continued.
Cenac, meanwhile, had an enormous game on the glass, finishing with 18 rebounds to go along with seven points. Idaho did not have a great matchup for him or forward JoJo Tugler inside. But 18 rebounds is impressive no matter who the opponent is. Cenac’s play has grown considerably the past month, and he showed off that 3-point shot again.
Unlocking Tugler
Speaking of Tugler, those of us that follow the Big 12 thing of him primarily as a defender and a rebounder. He’s one of the best in the conference at both. But lately, he’s unlocked some offense and that could be a differentiator for the Cougars in the NCAA Tournament.
He finished with 13 points. That was the sixth time in the last seven games Tugler has scored 10 or more points. He had a stretch like that in late December and January where he hit double figures five times in six games. That included five Big 12 games.
But going into the Idaho game he was coming off his season high of 20 points against Arizona in the Big 12 title game. He also had 10 rebounds. Sampson has heaped praise on Tugler’s offensive uptick.
At times Houston has lacked a consistent third or fourth scoring option. It’s beginning to look like the Cougars could have a plethora of them in the NCAA Tournament. With options like these, their run in March Madness could be a long one.
