AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
Houston and Kansas meet in Big 12 semifinal at T‑Mobile Center, 8:30 p.m.Houston starts Flemings, Sharp, Cenac Jr., Tugler, Uzan after four‑game win streak.Kansas counters with Peterson, Tre White, Council Jr., Bidunga, Tiller, seeking title run.
The Kansas Jayhawks will meet the Houston Cougars in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament at 8:30 p.m. Friday at T-Mobile Center.
The Jayhawks won the only regular-season meeting between the teams 69-56 on Feb. 23 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Here’s what you need to know before tipoff…
Houston vs. Kansas basketball: How to watch
When: 8:30 p.m. Central, Friday.
Where: T-Mobile Center (Kansas City).
TV: ESPN.
Probable starters
Houston (27-5)
C/F (No. 5) — Chris Cenac Jr., 6-11, Fr., 9.4 ppg
F (11) — Joseph Tugler, 6-8, Jr., 8.0
G (21) — Emanuel Sharp, 6-3. Sr., 15.8
G (7) — Milos Uzan, 6-4, Sr., 11.5
G (4) — Kingston Flemings, 6-4, Fr., 16.5
Kansas (23-9)
F (No. 40) — Flory Bidunga, 6-10, Soph., 13.8 ppg
F (15) — Bryson Tiller, 6-11, Fr., 8.3
G (3) — Tre White, 6-7, Sr., 14.3
G (14) — Melvin Council Jr., 6-4, Sr., 13.4
G (22) — Darryn Peterson, 6-6, Fr., 19.9
About No. 2 seed Houston (27-5)
The Cougars, who have won four consecutive games, advanced to the tourney semifinals by defeating BYU 73-66 in a quarterfinal clash Thursday night. Kingston Flemings scored 17 points while Emanuel Sharp added 13 points for the Cougars, last year’s NCAA runner-up team. Sharp was 1-of-9 shooting but 10-of-10 from the line. …
Kelvin Sampson is 326-89 in 12 seasons at Houston. He is 9-13 overall and 3-2 as Houston coach in games played against KU. … Sampson is a first-time nominee this year for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Members of the Class of 2026 will be announced at the Final Four. In all, there are 21 finalists. …
In 2025, Houston defeated Colorado, BYU and Arizona to claim the school’s first Big 12 Tournament title in program history. … Houston has a 61-39 record during conference postseason tournaments… That includes a 6-1 record in the Big 12, 14-7 mark in the American Athletic Conference, 13-15 record in Conference USA play and 28-16 tally in the Southwest Conference. …
The Cougars have advanced to the title game of its conference tournament in each of the last seven seasons (first two in Big 12, last five in American Athletic Conference). … The Cougars have posted a 6-1 record at the Big 12 tournament. … The Cougars have competed in seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments (2025 NCAA championship game, 2024 Sweet 16, 2023 Sweet 16, 2022 Elite Eight, 2021 Final Four, 2019 Sweet 16, 2018 second round. The 2020 tournament was not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic. …
Houston’s Sharp and Flemings this week were named first-team all-league in a vote of league coaches. Joseph Tugler and Milos Uzan were honorable mention.
Kelvin Sampson on first meeting between KU-Houston:
“We ran out of steam. We had nothing down the stretch. I kind of knew what we were coming in here for. I knew Bill (Self, KU coach)’s kids would be really excited to play us.”
The KU game completed a three-game stretch in which Houston played and lost at Iowa State (70-67), lost at home to Arizona (73-66) then lost to KU in a span of seven days.
About No. 3 seed Kansas (23-9)
KU leads the all-time series 7-5. KU snapped a three-game losing streak against the Cougars by prevailing 69-56 on Feb. 23 at Allen Fieldhouse. Tre White scored 23 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Darryn Peterson had 14 points on chilly 5-of-14 shooting. Bryson Tiller scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds; Melvin Council Jr. had 11 points and six rebounds. Freshman guard Kingston Flemings was the only Cougars player in double figures with 16 points. Houston was 5-of-24 from 3 and shot 31.8% overall. …
Prior to that game, the Cougars had beaten KU 65-59 on March 3, 2025 in Houston; 92-86 in double overtime on Jan. 25, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse; and 76-46 on March 9, 2024 in Houston. Prior to the three game streak, KU had won four in a row in the series. …
Bill Self is 2-3 versus Houston as KU coach. … KU has won 15 postseason league tourney titles, including 11 in the Big 12 era. KU (11), Iowa State (6), Oklahoma State (2), and Houston (1) are active league members with Big 12 tournament titles. … Since the Big 12’s inception in 1996-97, Kansas is 51-15 in the league tournament. …
Through games of March 9, Kansas’ strength of schedule is second in NCAA Division I. In the Self era, Kansas has ranked in the top five of strength of schedule 10 times and No. 1 six times (2005, 2025, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2023). … Kansas is No. 19 in the NET, which is fifth in the Big 12. … KU’s nine Quad 1 wins are tied for second in the league and tied for seventh most nationally. Arizona is first in the league with 14.
Bill Self on first meeting vs. Houston:
“I thought we were great. You know what Houston does better than anybody, probably in America, is they back-tap offensive rebounds. They just go jump and then don’t even try to get it. They just back-tap. And they’re great at it. And they got two or three early, but after that, I don’t think it was nearly as much. I thought our defensive rebounding was really good. And to be honest, our offensive rebounding wasn’t poor. I thought we did a good job on the glass (outrebounding Houston 38-33).”
Also … “I thought our ball-screen defense was right on point. That was good. Even when we were switching, I thought we switched up and just didn’t let them get to their spots (as Houston hit 5 of 24 3s to KU’s 7 of 17).
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The Kansas City Star
Gary Bedore covers KU basketball for The Kansas City Star. He has written about the Jayhawks since 1978 — during the Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self eras. He has won the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year award and KPA writing awards.