Houston HC Kelvin Sampson identifies what ruined Kingston Flemings’ historic game

Despite an absurd 42-point night from star freshman Kingston Flemings, Houston suffered its second loss of the 2025-2026 college basketball season to Texas Tech on Saturday. According to head coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars’ poor rebounding effort led to their downfall.

The game was not a typical Houston basketball outing, with the Cougars allowing a season-high 90 points in the loss. Sampson, however, was more concerned with his team’s lack of rebounding than its defensive struggles.

“Kingston put us on his back and put us in position to win the game,” Sampson said after the game, via ESPN. “We just didn’t do a very good job on the boards.”

Houston entered the game averaging over 37 rebounds per game, but it grabbed only 28 against Texas Tech. As a result, the Cougars were out-rebounded 44-28.

Offensive rebounding has been one of Houston’s strengths all season. The Cougars rank 18th on the offensive glass on the year, but only secured 11 on Saturday, as opposed to Texas Tech’s 21.

Sampson also watched his defense give up a season-high 12 three-pointers, most of which came in the first half. All factors considered, it was almost a miracle that Houston managed to remain competitive, which it would not have been without Flemings.

Flemings was essentially the only Cougar to have his offense going in the loss. While he made 15 of his 26 field goal attempts, the rest of the team only connected on 41 percent of its shots. Flemings accounted for 49 percent of Houston’s total points.

Flemings entered the game as Houston’s second-leading scorer, behind senior guard Emanuel Sharp, but his outburst now has him pacing the team with 17.0 points per game. He is now tied with Oklahoma State’s Anthony Roy as the 14th-leading scorer in the Big 12.

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