– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY — Outside of being one of the most promising freshmen that Kelvin Sampson has had during his wildly successful time in H-town, Kingston Flemings must certainly be a quick learner. He has had to given his new backcourt mates were the same ones that brought the Cougars to win one half of its first national championship just eight months ago, and Flemings put on another performance on Saturday that points to him possibly being the missing piece to Sampson’s championship puzzle.
Flemings, a native of San Antonio, filled up the statsheet with 21 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals as No. 8 Houston dominated No. 14 Arkansas on the Cougars’ way to a 94-85 victory at the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday afternoon. One of those returning veterans for Houston, Emanuel Sharp, had 22 points as the Cougars shot 51.6 percent from the field (32-for-62).
While not as heralded as others in the Cougars’ highly-ranked freshman class, Flemings has shined for Houston in some of the biggest games, including scoring over 20 points in games against Auburn (22 points), Tennessee (25) and Florida State (21). Like the games against the Tigers and Volunteers, Houston’s opponent was another ranked team from the Southeastern Conference, and Flemings and fellow freshman Isiah Harwell each scored six points during a 21-2 first-half run that saw the Cougars take a 40-19 lead.
Another freshman guard, the Razorbacks’ Darius Acuff Jr., led Arkansas with 27 points while also contributing seven assists and five rebounds. Forward Malique Ewin, a transfer from Florida State, had 20 points off the bench, keeping up with Houston’s size and depth in the frontcourt. His night could have been even more impressive if he had not missed seven of his 17 free-throw attempts.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s game, with photos taken by New Jersey-based photographer Vinnie Lucia. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 24 pictures in total.
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