A stifling defensive effort led Illinois to a 65-55 win over Houston on Thursday during the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Much of the Fighting Illini's focus was on slowing down Houston star Kingston Flemings. Brad Underwood's squad held Flemings to 11 points and four assists on 4-of-10 shooting.
Following the decisive victory, the Illinois head coach broke down his team's game plan to limit the projected top draft pick.
“He's he's an elite mid-range shooter… We just wanted to stay with him, especially in a ball screen, until he picked it up and passed it. We wanted him to see a lot of bodies,” Underwood said. “I was upset. It was my fault at [the end of the first] half. We I jumped in the zone after committing a couple of fouls and let him step into a three. Those are the shots he makes, the step-in threes. I thought we did a good job of taking those away.
“And then our other thing was our pickup point. We wanted our pickup point to be at the three-point line. We didn't want to get too extended. In watching film, I kind of compared him to Ja Morant, with his quickness and his speed and his ability to get downhill. We wanted to try to at least level that off and keep him out of the paint.”
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood calls Kingston Flemings an “elite mid-range shooter” and compares his ability to get downhill to Ja Morant.
Keaton Wagler and Illinois outlasted Flemings and Houston last night in a battle of top draft prospects.pic.twitter.com/0snOGXpa1e
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) March 27, 2026
The strategy was successful, as Illinois kept Flemings in front and limited his space to operate inside the arc.
Illinois slows down Kingston Flemings, Houston offense during Sweet 16 win
Meanwhile, the rest of Houston's starting five failed to capitalize on opportunities for most of the game. Emanuel Sharp led the Cougars with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting. However, Chris Cenac Jr. and Milos Uzan combined to shoot 5-of-23 from the field.
“They play a really tight defense,” Flemings said, via the Pawd Slama Jama YouTube channel. “They don't really go out and pressure a lot. They're all in gaps. Honestly, on the offensive end, we were getting a lot of shots that we liked. They just weren't falling… Sometimes, you just gotta put the ball in the hoop.”
Illinois will now face ninth-ranked Iowa in the Elite 8 on Sunday after the Hawkeyes upset No. 1 seed Florida and No. 4 seed Nebraska.
Meanwhile, Flemings is expected to enter the 2026 NBA draft as a potential top-five pick. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists on .476/.387/.845 shooting splits.
He was the No. 5 pick on ESPN and The Athletic's latest mock drafts.
