Freshmen Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr. as well as a stifling defensive performance helped No. 5 Houston run away with a 69-47 win over No. 14 Kansas in the Big 12 tournament semifinal nightcap Friday in Kansas City.
The No. 2 seed Cougars (28-5) will face top-seeded Arizona (31-2) in Saturday’s Big 12 title game. Houston has made the Big 12 title game in each of its first three years in the league and is looking for its second straight conference title.
Flemings tallied a game-high 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Cenac added 17 — his most points since Jan. 18 vs. Arizona State — with 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Both were 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
Emanuel Sharp chipped in three 3-pointers for the Cougars, who shot 55.6% from outside the arc (10 of 18) to secure their fifth straight win and avenge their regular-season loss at Kansas.
The Jayhawks (23-10) were held to their lowest scoring total since a 76-46 loss to Houston on March 9, 2024. They only turned it over eight times and weren’t dominated on the board (Houston held a 42-37 edge) but hit just 24.6% of their shots (14 of 57).
Kansas shot 7-of-23 from 3-point range (30.4%) and made just 7 of 34 two-point shots (20.6%). Darryn Peterson (14 points) was the lone Jayhawk in double figures but was 3-of-11 shooting. Flory Bidunga paired 12 rebounds with five points.
The Cougars carried their stingy defensive finish from Thursday’s quarterfinal defeat of BYU into the start of Friday’s game. Kansas opened 2-for-12 from the floor, shooting 30.8% in the first half as Houston took a 33-25 lead into the intermission.
Peterson accounted for nearly half of the Jayhawks’ first-half points, scoring 12 on 3-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. Cenac led the Cougars with 15 points along with a team-high seven boards at the half.
Houston grabbed firm control of the game when it opened the second half on an 18-2 run. Another ice-cold start from Kansas, which missed its first 16 field-goal attempts after halftime to allow the Cougars to establish a 51-27 advantage with 12:26 left.
Kansas never cut the deficit to less than 17 points the rest of the way.
