No. 5 Houston rides late surge into clash vs. No. 14 Kansas
No. 5 Houston and No. 14 Kansas each showed their mettle in their respective Big 12 tournament openers on Thursday.
Neither finished the regular season how they wanted -- both lost three of their last six games -- and both found themselves locked into late battles before escaping with victories on Thursday.
That sets the stage for Friday as the Cougars prepare to tip off with the Jayhawks in a late semifinal in Kansas City, Mo. Kansas is looking to make its first trip to the Big 12 title game since 2023, while Houston aims to capture its second straight league title.
The second-seeded Cougars (27-5) led BYU by one point with 6:52 left before going on a 12-3 run en route to a 73-66 victory.
The third-seeded Jayhawks (23-9) trailed TCU by one with 6:29 left before ending the game on a 19-12 run to pull out a 78-73 win.
"We love the opportunity to play the best in our league, and they certainly have been the best or right there over the last three years in which they've been in the league," Kansas coach Bill Self said of the Cougars. "So we'll be excited."
Houston, which ranks second nationally in scoring defense (62.8 points per game) relied on its defense to close out BYU and advance to its third straight Big 12 semifinal.
BYU shot 32.1% in the second half after making 52.2% of its shots in the opening 20 minutes. Houston allowed just 15 points in the final 14:14, five of which came in the final 10 seconds when the result was in hand.
"Really proud of my guys. It wasn't our best game. We made some bonehead plays," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. "... But the name of the game is to win the game. And at the end of the day that's really all that matters."
Kingston Flemings delivered a team-high 17 points and made two of the team's five 3-pointers.
On a team that returned multiple key contributors from last year's national runner-up squad, Flemings leads Houston in scoring (16.5 points per game), assists (5.3) and steals (1.6).
"Kingston's got that competition gene. He loves competition," Sampson said. "... There's a lot of dog in that kid. There's a lot of killer in him. He's tough."
Kansas' own star freshman, Darryn Peterson, kicked off his postseason in strong fashion with a 24-point showing, marking the first time since Jan. 3-10 that he's scored 20-plus points in consecutive games.
After missing 11 regular-season games due to injuries, Peterson played a career-high 37 minutes against TCU, including the entire second half. He's played each of the past eight games.
"Throughout the year, my body was holding me back," Peterson said. "But to finally feel free out there feels great."
In a game in which both teams shot below 40% from the floor and Kansas made just 4 of 17 3-pointers, the Jayhawks won by making 30 of 37 free throws, including 26 of 30 in the second half.
Houston leads the all-time series over Kansas 3-2, with all five matchups coming since the Cougars joined the Big 12 for the 2023-24 season. But the Jayhawks won this year's matchup 69-56 at home on Feb. 23, snapping a three-game skid in the series.
The winner will meet the winner of the other semifinal game that pits top seed Arizona and fifth-seeded Iowa State. The final will be played Saturday.