The Good, Bad and Ugly of No. 7 Houston's Lopsided Win over New Orleans

No. 7 Houston Cougars basketball won a completely lopsided affair on Saturday afternoon in the Fertitta Center with a 99-57 throttling of New Orleans to improve to 10-1 on the season.

The Cougars have clearly improved their play recently, and it was another team performance that smoked the Privateers. Four players scored 15 points, all of them young talent. Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings, freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr., redshirt freshman Chase McCarty, and sophomore guard Mercy Miller were the leading scorers.

Houston shot 54 percent from the field and 48 percent from three. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly.

Good: Cougar Culture on Full Display

houston cougars basketball — Dec 13, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars center Cedric Lath (8) celebrates with guard Kingston Flemings (4) after a play during the first half against the New Orleans Privateers at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

It will take some time for the Cougars to reach their full potential, especially with two freshman starters and a new bench; however, it now seems like Houston is starting to turn the corner. Even though this is low non-conference competition, the Cougars just look more connected and confident during the game. That was on full display in this victory, where Houston only turned the ball over six times.

Their offense is starting to flow a lot better, and the players know what their strengths are. Defensively, the energy and physicality match that of previous Houston teams. In other words, the Cougars are looking more like the Cougars. Typical Houston.

UH has always been able to force turnovers, and it was no different today. Houston forced 21 turnovers and got 29 points off them. A part of that was 11 steals.

Coach Kelvin Sampson wanted to bench to play better, and that unit showed up big time on Saturday. Miller and McCarty, each with 15, were the chunk of the 48 bench points scored. Miller continues to grow his role on the team and increase his minutes. He looked confident shooting against his father’s team, as Percy Miller (Master P) is the head of basketball operations at New Orleans.

McCarty was the standout in just 14 minutes played. He also corralled six rebounds and drained three 3-pointers.

Cenac Jr. looked at ease on the offensive end, in one of the best scoring games of the early season. The big man was very effective in the midrange, and his shot was looking smooth. Cenac Jr. was 6 of 10 from the field along with six rebounds in 17 minutes. Flemings scored 11 out of his 15 in the first half, with a couple of and-one shots.

Bad: A Match in Physicality

New Orleans has been known to be quite a physical team entering today’s game, and there were glimpses of that throughout the 40 minutes. The Privateers were able to match Houston’s strength and dominance on the boards.

The ESPN announcer for this matchup mentioned that this is the most physical team the Cougars have faced. It ultimately was not effective at all in this beat-up, but New Orleans did end up with 16 second-chance points compared to nine for Houston. NOLA was quite competitive in rebounding with 31 total, having almost matched the Cougars’ 33 on the offensive and defensive glass.

Ugly: Early Inefficiency

There was not much ugly to report on from this game. Houston played quite well on both sides of the ball, and nearly cracked 100 points. There was a bit of poor shooting to start from the Cougars. While this was a complete blowout, it could’ve gotten even uglier for New Orleans.

Houston was 3/12 through the first six minutes of the game. Besides that, there was some foul trouble for senior guard Emanuel Sharp, but his services were not necessary in this one. The young guns took control.

Up next, the Cougars will face their final non-conference test of the season next Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, against No. 17 Arkansas for a thrilling matchup.