The Houston Cougars just survived its first real test of the season, and now the unbeaten squad get a quick turnaround at home against a worn-down Rider squad. The win over Auburn on Sunday was a reminder that even the No. 2 team in the country can get dragged into a tight one, but it also showed how quickly Houston’s young stars are growing up.
Freshman star
Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings has wasted no time taking control of this team. Four games into his college career, he looks like he has been running Kelvin Sampson’s offense for years. Flemings dropped 22 points with seven assists in Birmingham and did it with the calm that usually belongs to an upperclassman. He is averaging 17.3 points while hitting nearly seventy percent of his shots, an absurd clip for a first-year guard facing real competition.
Houston has another newcomer who already looks like a problem. Chris Cenac Jr. Keeps stacking productive nights, and his 18 points against Auburn came on eight makes in ten tries. He nearly grabbed his third double-digit rebounding game too, continuing a pattern of owning the paint. He leads the Cougars at nine boards a night and brings the kind of physical presence Sampson loves.
Even with all the praise for the two freshmen, Sampson cut off any talk that they are ahead of schedule. He made it clear that they are still learning and that his bigger concern is the team’s consistency on the defensive end. Houston let Auburn hang around longer than expected, and that is the part that has his attention.
The visitors are big underdogs
Rider enters this game from a very different place. The Broncs were overwhelmed in Austin on Tuesday night, falling 99-65 to Texas in a game that got out of reach almost immediately. The Longhorns ran them off the floor with a 34-4 edge in fast-break points and a huge advantage inside. That kind of beating tends to linger when you hop from one powerhouse to another on short rest.
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Flash Burton was the lone bright spot for Rider with 16 points, but the team struggled to create clean looks and continues to fire blanks from deep. Burton leads the Broncs at 14 points per game but has not found his range yet. As a group, Rider is shooting just over twenty-three percent from long distance, which makes climbing back into games nearly impossible.
Coach Kevin Baggett was blunt about what these trips mean. The program needs the payout games, and he has leaned into them as the university deals with budget cuts and staff reductions. He admitted that the downside is the physical and mental toll it puts on his roster. After taking punches from Texas, he knows confidence is just as important as game plans.
Should be a tune up
Houston may not have steamrolled every opponent, but the Cougars have looked in control most nights, especially at home. With two fearless freshmen, a veteran guard in Emanuel Sharp, and a defense that usually tightens up when it matters, this matchup could feel very one-sided unless Rider finds early momentum.
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