3 Takeaways From Houston Cougars' Win Over Auburn Tigers
In this story:
Despite a late scare and facing foul trouble with their frontcourt, the No. 1 Houston Cougars likely held on to their status as college's basketball's best after four games with a 73-72 win over No. 22 Auburn at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. on Sunday.
With its first Quad 1 win of 2025-26, Houston moved to 4-0 on the season in not a completely clean though strong manner, backed behind freshman guard Kingston Flemings' 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting.
There is a lot to unload regarding the Cougars' successful true first test, so here are three key takeaways from the Sunday afternoon thriller.
The Freshmen. Are. Here.
After watching this game, some could argue that Houston had the most complete and confident freshman display in a marquee matchup by far in all of college basketball four games in. Another argument? Flemings and freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr. nearly carried the victory for the Cougars.
With his tenacity and willingness not to give up on plays on and off ball, Flemings nearly contended for a triple-double as to pair with his 22 points, he racked up five boards and seven assists. Despite committing four turnovers, he never looked flustered.
In the third-to-last play of the game, Flemings issued a key block on a layup attempt by sophomore guard Tahaad Pettiford, which ultimately set up a tough inbounding spot for the Tigers with two seconds remaining. As a result, redshirt fifth year forward Kalifa Sakho issued the game-sealing block of Pettiford.
Despite fouling out with 3:22 remaining, Cenac nearly clinched his second double-double in just four games as he finished with 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting (2 of 3 from three-point range) while grabbing nine boards.
Quietly, freshman guard Isiah Harwell racked up five points on a triple and two shots at the stripe, while grabbing three board off the bench.
With all of these efforts combined, Houston's highest-rated freshman class combined to shoot 17-for-27 from the floor, while the rest of the team shot 11-for-38.
Uzan back at the right time?
Through the first three games, senior guard Milos Uzan had tough outings from the floor as he began his season shooting just 27%. Today, he had his best percentage performance by shooting 4-for-11. After an 0-for-3 start from three-point range, Uzan buried his first triple of the day with 2:57 remaining overall to help him become the fourth Cougar to reach double figures behind Flemings, Cenac, and redshirt senior guard Emanuel Sharp.
This could be a pleasant sign that vintage Uzan awaits for the Cougars down the road, especially if he starts going on pace to match his 42.8% shooting mark from three-point range last season. What hasn't changed though is his unwavering leadership at the point and his endless value as a defender.
Sakho's wing value remains understated
The Sam Houston transfer forward continues to breathe immense value off the bench with his 7-foot-4 wingspan to where it should be billed as an intelligently-underrated portal acquisition by coach Kelvin Sampson.
Sakho has grabbed 10 boards over the last two games and aside from his key block today, shown a great deal of aggressiveness defensively when it comes to poke-outs or stripping the ball away.
Down the line, this is a quiet development to follow in an already stacked Houston frontcourt roster where the average wingspan is 7-foot-3.
Michael Carrara is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He attends the University of Houston, where he is a journalism major and a marketing minor. He is also a sports writer and reporter for the Daily Cougar, having covered baseball as an NCBWA member. You can find Michael on all major social media channels, including X on @michaelcoalec.