OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Kingston Flemings scored 18 points, Emanuel Sharpe added 16 and Houston routed Idaho 78-47 Thursday night in its NCAA Tournament opener after losing last year's championship game.
The Cougars (29-6), the second seed in the South Region, will play No. 10 seed Texas A&M in the second round on Saturday. The Aggies beat St. Mary's 63-50 on Thursday.
Chris Cenac Jr. had a career-high 18 rebounds for Houston, which lost to Florida in
last year's final.
Kolton Mitchell scored 14 points for 15th-seeded Idaho, a heavy underdog making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990.
The Vandals (21-15) qualified for the NCAA Tournament by winning four games in five days to win the Big Sky championship, despite being seeded seventh in the conference tournament.
Houston fell behind 10-7, then outscored Idaho 41-14 over the next 15 minutes for a 48-24 lead at the break. Flemings, who made all six of his shots from the field, led the Cougars' attack with 14 points while Sharp (12 points) made four of five shots, including 3-pointers.
The Vandals made eight of 30 shots (26%) and didn't score for nearly 10 minutes of the first half. Houston extended the lead to 67-38 on a short jumper by Flemings with 7:12 left in the game.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
