Kingston Flemings scored 18 points and Emanuel Sharp added 16 on 6-of-7 shooting to help second-seeded Houston roll to a 78-47 victory over 15th-seeded Idaho in South region first-round action Thursday at Oklahoma City.
Freshman Chris Cenac Jr. collected a season-best 18 rebounds as the Cougars (29-6) held a 47-32 edge on the boards. JoJo Tugler added 13 points, Milos Uzan scored 12 and Mercy Miller added 10 for Houston.
The Cougars will face No. 10 seed Texas A&M in Saturday’s second round. The Aggies beat Saint Mary’s on Thursday.
Kolton Mitchell scored 14 points for the Vandals (21-15), who had a five-game winning streak halted and lost for just the second time in 10 games.
Idaho shot just 28.6% from the field and were a dreadful 6 of 30 from 3-point range in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990.
Houston shot 50% from the field, including 8 of 15 from behind the arc, while leading by as many as 33 points.
Flemings had 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting and Sharp added 12 points and hit all three of his 3-point attempts as the Cougars led 48-24 at halftime.
Idaho led 12-9 on Trevon Blassingame’s layup with 14:40 left in the first half before Houston erupted on a 24-3 burst that included eight consecutive made shots at the outset.
Sharp converted a four-point play and followed with a trey to give the Cougars a 16-12 advantage. Sharp knocked down another 3-pointer to give Houston a nine-point edge with 12:31 remaining.
After Idaho’s Jack Payne banked in a 3-pointer to pull his team within 21-15, Houston rolled off 12 consecutive points. Flemings started that run with two straight baskets, while Tugler’s layup culminated the made-shots streak to give the Cougars a 31-15 lead with 9:34 left.
Sharp then hit a jumper to cap the burst and give the Cougars an 18-point lead.
Houston had an 11-0 run later in the half en route to the 24-point halftime cushion.
The Cougars continued to lead comfortably the entire second half. The lead reached 30 for the first time when Uzan canned a trey to make it 70-40 with 5:54 left in the contest.
