March 12, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Houston Cougars guard Emmanuel Sharp (21) grabs a rebound in the second half against the BYU Cougars at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Image Houston (5th) and Kansas (14th) each showed off their power in the opening game of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday.
Neither finished the regular season as they would have liked. Both have lost three of their last six games. Both were locked in a close battle before coming away victorious on Thursday.
That sets the stage for Friday as the Cougars prepare to advance to the final against the Jayhawks in the second half of the semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas is looking to play in the Big 12 title game for the first time since 2023, while Houston is aiming to win its second straight league title.
The second-seeded Cougars (27-5) took a one-point lead over BYU with 6:52 left before going on a 12-3 run to win 73-66.
The third-seeded Jayhawks (23-9) trailed TCU by one with 6:29 left before closing the game on a 19-12 run to win 78-73.
“We love the opportunity to play among the best in our league,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of the Cougars, “and they’ve definitely been at or right up there with the best the last three years they’ve been in the league.” “So we’ll be excited.”
Houston, which ranks second in the nation in scoring defense (62.8 points per game), advanced to its third straight Big 12 semifinal by beating BYU thanks to its defense.
BYU shot 52.2% in the first 20 minutes and then 32.1% in the second half. Houston allowed just 15 points in the final 14 minutes and 14 seconds, five of which came in the final 10 seconds of the game.
“I’m really proud of my guys,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “It wasn’t our best game. We played tough.” “…but the name of the game is winning the game. And in the end, that’s all that matters.”
The Kingston Flemings scored a team-high 17 points and made two of the team’s five 3-pointers.
On a team that returns several key contributors from last year’s national runner-up team, Flemings leads Houston in scoring (16.5 points per game), assists (5.3) and steals (1.6).
“Kingston has competitive genes. He loves competition,” Sampson said. “…That kid has a lot of dogs in him. There’s a lot of killer in him. He’s tough.”
Kansas star freshman Darryn Peterson opened the postseason on a strong note, scoring 24 points, his first time since scoring 20 or more points in back-to-back games from Jan. 3-10.
After missing 11 regular season games due to injury, Peterson played a career-high 37 minutes against TCU, including the entire second half. He has played in all eight games.
“My body was holding me back all year,” Peterson said. “But it feels good to finally feel free there.”
In a game in which both teams shot less than 40 percent 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. However, the Jayhawks won this year’s matchup at home, 69-56, on Feb. 23 to snap a three-game losing streak in the series.
The winner will meet the winner of the other semifinal between top seed Arizona State and fifth seed Iowa State. The final will be played on Saturday.
–Field level media
