No. 7 Houston will look to ride the momentum of its best showing in Big 12 Conference play into Sunday’s game against visiting Arizona State.
The Cougars, who lost to Florida in last season’s NCAA championship game, have done more than just reload for this year’s campaign. They might be even better in 2025-26, driven by proven stars and a set of newcomers that coach Kelvin Sampson employs in waves while overwhelming the opposition.
Houston (16-1, 4-0) recorded its 10th straight win with a 77-48 home rout of West Virginia on Tuesday. Milos Uzan scored 17 points, Emanuel Sharp added 13, and Joseph Tugler contributed 10 points, six rebounds and four steals to lead the Cougars.
“Our team is getting better,” Sampson said. “That’s always been what you are after this time of year. Just get better.”
The win was Houston’s 14th straight at home and 35th in a row against an unranked opponent.
While the Cougars are led by veteran guards Sharp (15.9 points per game) and Uzan (11.3) and forward Tugler (8.4), Sampson has found the room in his rotation for his freshmen, led by the Kingston Flemings (15.4).
“Proud of our young guys — (there are) not very many teams in the top 10 in the country playing four freshmen,” Sampson said. “And we paid the severance for that early because you’re not going to look great because you’re playing four freshmen. But we hung in there with them, let them make their mistakes.”
The Sun Devils (10-7, 1-3) enter Sunday’s contest off a scrappy, emotional, 89-82 road loss to top-ranked Arizona on Wednesday. Maurice Odum finished with 23 points and seven assists to lead Arizona State, while Massamba Diop added 16 points and six rebounds.
Senior guard Bryce Ford returned to the floor after missing four of the last five games with a back injury and scored nine points but could not stop the Sun Devils from dropping their fifth game in their past six outings.
Arizona State pulled to 85-82 with under a minute left but could not get over the hump.
“Even when we got down 12 in the second half, guys came in and made plays and got us to a one-possession game inside a minute,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “We had a chance. I thought our guys battled and really tried hard to hang in there in the paint.”
Sunday’s contest will be the third against a ranked team in a four-game stretch for Arizona State.
“We have to go back to the drawing board, see what we did good, see what we did wrong,” Odum said. “We have to treat every game like it’s the same game, because we’re in the Big 12 and every game is a gauntlet, every game is a hard game.”
Odum averages a team-best 16.8 points and 6.5 assists per game for the Wildcats. Diop contributes 14.7 points and 5.6 rebounds, while Anthony Johnson averages 14.3 points.
–Field Level Media
