Seventh-ranked Houston looks to extend its nation’s best 15-game road winning streak when it faces dangerous Baylor on Saturday afternoon in a key early Big 12 Conference clash in Waco, Texas.
The Cougars (14-1, 2-0) have won eight straight games, including a come-from-behind 69-65 win at home over No. 14 Texas Tech on Tuesday. It took a nine-point scoring surge by freshman Kingston Flemings over the final 2:11 of for Houston to win its 13th consecutive home game and for the Cougars to outlast Tech’s determined effort.
“You know, I don’t think Kingston played great for us,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said after Tuesday’s win. “But he was fearless — especially at the end of the game.”
Flemings finished with 23 points in the win, with Emanuel Sharp adding 17 points, Chris Cenac Jr. racking up 11 points and 11 rebounds and Joseph Tugler contributing 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars, who have won their two league games by a combined 11 points.
The Cougars showed poise in the face of the Red Raiders’ constant pressure, committing just six turnovers, one of them in the first half.
“There’s a reason why you don’t play great against good defensive teams,” Sampson said. “I’m proud of our guys for hanging in there and finding a way to win against a really good Texas Tech team. We put an emphasis on (not committing) turnovers — we just don’t commit turnovers.”
The Cougars are the only team in the nation with current home and road winning streaks of at least 13 games.
Baylor (10-4, 0-2) looks to break into the conference win column after a 70-60 home loss to No. 3 Iowa State on Wednesday. The Bears got 17 points from Cameron Carr while Caden Powell had 11 points and 11 rebounds but Baylor shot just 30.6% from the field, produced a season low for points and dropped its second straight game.
Tounde Yessoufou added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Bears, and former NBA draft pick James Nnaji had two points and five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench in his second game for Baylor.
Yessoufou said Baylor has to get tougher if it expects to win in the rough-and-tumble Big 12.
“It sounds cliche to say, man, but that’s what it is,” Yessoufou said. “Offensively, obviously, we’ve just got to make some shots. That’s something that we can fix. It’s something that we’re going to work on together, but most likely just being the toughest team out there.
“Again, it’s the Big 12. It’s big boy basketball. That’s what we signed up for. So we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Baylor also missed 12 free throws in the loss to Iowa State — a huge stat in a game decided by 10 points.
“Iowa State is great defensively but they didn’t do anything on the free throw line,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “And I mean, you can’t go 17-for-29, 58% at home from the line, miss front ends of one-and-ones and beat a good team. You just can’t.”
The Cougars have taken the past three games against Baylor, sweeping a two-game set last year including a four-point win in Waco.
