Houston defense puts clamps on Idaho as the second-seeded Cougars topple 15th-seeded Vandals in NCAA Tournament opener

OKLAHOMA CITY — Last week, Idaho men’s basketball surged through the Big Sky tournament to claim the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth in more than three decades.

But on Thursday at the Paycom Center, the Vandals’ unbeaten run through the month of March came to a halt against last year’s national runner-up.

Freshman Kingston Flemings had 18 points, forward Chris Cenac Jr. grabbed 18 rebounds and second-seeded Houston took care of business against the 15th-seeded Vandals with a 78-47 victory in a South Region first-round contest.

The Vandals came out of the gates strong against the nation’s fifth-ranked team, leading Houston 10-7 at the first media timeout. Guards Kolton Mitchell and Biko Johnson hit early 3-pointers, while Jackson Rasmussen made two buckets in the opening minutes.

“I would say we came out in attack mode. We were ready,” senior guard Biko Johnson said. “We were ready to fight, ready to compete, and we were just standing together in the first four minutes, which is why the score was what it was.”

From there though, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson settled down his crew and the Cougars proceeded to rattle off a back-to-back 12-0 runs with a Jack Payne 3-pointer for UI breaking up the streaks.

But as impressive as the Houston offense was, the defense put the clamps on the Vandals. Houston entered the game as the nation’s second best scoring defense (62.9 points allowed per game) and held Idaho to its lowest scoring output of the season. Idaho’s previous low was 63 against Cal State Bakersfield in December.

“Holding a team to 24 points in a half and then following up and holding them to 23 points is difficult to do,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “I think the key to that is rebounding, defensive rebounding. You know, we had a plan coming in with the way they were in their pick-and-roll coverage. We felt like Kingston could get downhill and get to his pull-up, because their big played back.”

Idaho finished shooting just 28.6% from the floor and 20% (6 for 30) from deep, while Houston was 50% overall and 53.3% from 3-point range. Houston also out rebounded the Vandals 47-32.

Mitchell, a redshirt sophomore, paced Idaho with 14 points, while Johnson had eight points, six rebounds and a steal. Johnson also hit the 1,000-point mark for his career.

“This coaching staff took a chance on me,” Johnson said. “I’ve been to three different schools in, like, three years. It’s been a wild journey. I’m just super grateful.”

Idaho’s run to the Big Dance was one of the more unexpected storylines of the 68-team NCAA field, as the Vandals were the No. 7 seed in last week’s Big Sky tournament in Boise. Idaho — who had not won more than two games in a row all season — won four games in five days against Sacramento State, Montana State, Eastern Washington and Montana to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990.

“Not the result we were looking for, obviously but at this point I’m just filled with an extreme sense of pride and gratitude,” Idaho coach Alex Pribble said. “I think our guys really battled to put themselves in a position where they could play in March Madness. They played seven games in 13 days leading up to this, an emotionally draining run through their conference tournament.

“You know, you get paired up with a team like Houston, you know, I think a lot of teams would have kind of backed away, and I don’t think our guys did at all.”

Idaho (21-15) now drops to 1-5 in NCAA Tournament games, with the lone win coming against Iowa in 1982 under famed coach Don Monson.

Idaho was looking to join the group of just 11 teams to win first-round games as a 15 seed, including recent upset wins from Oral Roberts (2021), Saint Peter’s (2022) and Princeton (2023). Instead the Vandals will look to continue building a program that won just 11 games three seasons ago.

“I think the biggest thing is just the culture. The three of us have talked a lot about just building our culture here, and I think our foundation and our culture has been built,” Mitchell said. “We have a championship culture now at Idaho, and the expectation is the expectation. You know, we expect to win championships now.

“So going in, the guys who we’ll recruit and get here are going to be expected to work their butts off, and if it’s not a championship, then that’s down to our standards going forward.”

Houston (29-6) advances to the second round, where it will take on 10th-seeded Texas A&M on Saturday in Oklahoma City.