OKLAHOMA CITY – Houston controlled the opening tip, and Consensus Second-Team All-American Kingston Flemings took it down the floor on offense. Kingston went right, knowing JoJo Tugler was setting a pick for him at the elbow. When Flemings reversed, his defender, Biko Johnson, was momentarily caught up by the screen. Johnson recovered by swatting across the ball and dislodging it from Kingston’s grasp. Isaiah Brickner got the steal, and they were going the other way.
Twelve seconds into his first NCAA Tournament game, Kingston Flemings had already met adversity: first NCAA Tournament, first play, first turnover.
But it was largely the only adversity he faced all night. KingFish finished with 18 points on 8/12 shooting, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. That’s one helluva debut. A year ago, he was still 40 days from his high school prom. Now, he’s 40 minutes from an HTown Sweet 16.
Kingston went 6/6 from the floor in the first half, dominating in the midrange. He hit three from just below the free-throw line, one near the basket, and one from each wing. The game plan was for him to get downhill and attack, and he did. Quite well, in fact.
Chris Cenac also attacked, but in his own way. The silly scouting report that has resonated with TV personalities about Cenac – he didn’t work hard – was finally flushed Thursday night. In a five-and-a-half-minute stretch in the first half, Cenac pulled down eight of UH’s nine rebounds (a tenth was won on a jumpball call that saw a 6-foot-11, 250-pound blond beast crash down on top of Ramon Walker, who jumped up with a Cheshire grin across his face).
Cenac completely dominated the glass: his 12th rebound of the night with 1:34 in the first half tied him with the entire state of Idaho. He checked out of the game at the under-4 timeout with 18 boards, a career high. His big night pushed him into second place in rebounds by a freshman in Houston history, now with 272, trailing only Clyde Drexler.
As an aside, here’s where Kingston and Chris are in UH history among freshmen:
| Rank - Category | Freshman | Number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st - Points | Flemings | 574 | |
| 1st - Scoring Avg | Flemings | 16.4 | Set Thursday |
| 1st - FG Made | Flemings | 214 | |
| 1st - FG Attempts | Flemings | 446 | |
| 1st - Assists | Flemings | 184 | Set Thursday |
| 1st - Minutes Played | Flemings | 1105 | Set Thursday |
| 2nd - FT Made | Flemings | 106 | 19 behind Danuel House |
| 2nd - FT% | Flemings | 84.1% | Nate Hinton, 85.7% |
| 2nd - Rebounds | Cenac | 272 | Clyde Drexler, 314 |
| 2nd - Assists Avg | Flemings | 5.3 | Derrick Daniels, 5.8 |
| 2nd - Steals | Flemings | 55 | Rickie Winslow, 60 |
| Games Started | Flemings | 35 | Ties Jarace Walker and Winslow Saturday |
The freshmen were not the only ones to shine for Houston: JoJo Tugler continues to take great strides (although A&M will test him Saturday evening), Emanuel Sharp took the game over early and went 6/7 from the floor, Milos Uzan continued to improve and play within the flow of the game, Mercy Miller attacked the basket and finished with 10 points (and his first four buckets in NCAA games).
But the two true freshmen were the story. This tournament is their one chance at their one shining moment, and they took advantage of it in game one. On a vintage first day of the tournament, where Cinderellas won games or took high seeds to the wire, Idaho was the victim of an early harvest.
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