No. 2 Houston Basketball Gets the Win over Towson: Houston vs Towson Live Game Updates
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No. 2 Houston basketball continues early season action as the Cougars face off against the Towson Tigers on Saturday afternoon.
Houston is coming off a 75-57 season-opening win over Lehigh on Monday night, where head coach Kelvin Sampson won his 800th career game and 300th leading the Cougars. He now ranks 17th in NCAA history in wins.
Senior guard Emanuel Sharp was the highest scorer in the season opener against the Mountain Hawks, with 24 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Sharp was the first Houston player to put up at least 20 points in a season opener since he himself did it back in 2023. Senior point guard Milos Uzan scored 12 points, along with five rebounds and five assists.
Freshman starting forward/center Chris Cenac Jr. was a standout on Monday, as he recorded the first Houston double-double of the year with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Cenac became the first Cougar to put up a double-double in their first career game at Houston since George Williams in 1999.
Coogs vs Tigers
Houston and Towson have only met one time previously, which came back in 2023. That was the first game of the Charleston Classic First Round, where the Cougars won 65-49. This will be the first time that Houston will face Towson in the Fertitta Center.
Towson enters with a 1-0 record after beating Loyola 67-56 on the road. Last year, the Tigers were 22-11 and won the Colonial Athletic Association’s regular-season title. Towson is led by head coach Pat Skerry in his 15th season, and junior guard Tyler Tejada.
The Cougars will be looking for their star freshman to get more experience and learning time on the court. While Cenac Jr. has already made a strong impact, guard Isiah Harwell and point guard Kingston Flemings will try to grow from their first game.
Tip-off is at 2 p.m. CST from Fertitta Center in Houston, and be sure to check back here at game time for live updates as the action unfolds in the Cougars’ second game of the season.
Follow below for live updates as the action unfolds from the home of the national runner-ups.
Live Updates
Starting Lineup: PG Milos Uzan, G Emanuel Sharp, G Kingston Flemings, F Chris Cenac Jr., F Joseph Tugler
Townson wins the jumpball and we are underway.
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Houston leads 8-5. Emanuel Sharp hits back-to-back three pointers after a slow start offensively.
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Houston leads 16-5 over Towson with 11:53 to go in the first half.
Milos Uzan gets to 1000 career points after his three-point make. Freshman guard Kingston Flemings throws down an epic one-handed slam and the crowd goes wild, forcing a Towson timeout. Redshirt freshman forward Chase McCarty makes an instant impact with a three-pointer. The Cougars are pouring it on from behind the arc.
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Cougars lead the Tigers 23-13 with 7:21 left.
Sophomore guard Mercy Miller comes in and he hits a 3-pointer. Miller takes over on offense with a nice move to get into the paint and a great layup to finish. Houston still a bit sloppy with turnovers, but forces a couple themselves to cash in with more points.
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Houston leads Towson 28-20 with 3:22 left in the first half.
Flemings hits a great triple right at the buzzer. On the next possession, Joseph Tugler threw down a poster. Towson kept responding and cut the deficit to eight thanks to a couple of loose possesisons from the Cougars.
Halftime: Houston over Towson 33-26
Houston struggled with rebounding the ball and gave the Tigers multiple opportunities to score. Towson continued to trim the lead, but the Cougars made some free throws late. Flemings is the leading scorer at the half with nine points. Tugler had seven points and four rebounds. Houston is getting outrebounded 19-17 halfway through.
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Houston continues to lead now just 38-32.
Tugler had wide open dunk as a result of a steal. Towson went on a little 4-0 run and were able to generate lanes to the paint. Crowd begins to boo before the timeout as a jump ball went to the Tigers.
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Houston takes a 44-35 advantage.
Towson cut the deficit to just three points at 38-35 with 15 minutes to go. The Cougars finally got on a roll with three straight buckets in the paint and Flemings went right to the bucket on the fastbreak.
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The Cougars' lead got trimmed to 54-46.
Uzan had some issues shooting wise, but knocked down a big 3-pointer as Houston finally got a double-digit lead. Flemings is starting to take over offensively. Towson went on a stretch of five field goals in six attempts before Uzan knocked down another key triple.
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Houston extends the lead to 61-46 with 3:30 left.
Flemings adds to his total and was pretty much the entire Houston offense down the stretch. The rebounding was much better from the Cougars.
FINAL: Houston 65-48 over Towson
Houston goes on a 14-2 run over the last eight minutes to end up winning comfortably. Flemings was the leading scorer of the game with 20 points and Tugler added 15 points and eight rebounds. Cenac Jr. only scored two points but was the leading rebounder once again with 13.
Maanav Gupta is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He graduated from the University of Houston in the summer of 2025 with his bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in Spanish. Gupta spent three years at the student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, and also covered the 2025 Final Four and National Championship as Houston beat writer for College Basketball Review. He also has his own YouTube channel, Maanav’s Sports Talk, where he has interviewed professional athletes and broadcasters like Jim Nantz, Jose Altuve, J.J. Watt, Rich Eisen, and Alperen Sengun. Gupta was also a contributor to the Houston athletic program as a student. You can find Gupta on X, Instagram and TikTok @MGSportsTalk.