The Good, Bad and Ugly of No. 5 Houston Cougars' Monster Win vs Colorado
In this story:
The No. 5 Houston Cougars bounced back in style on Saturday afternoon at home with a absolutely crushing 102-62 win over the Colorado Buffaloes inside Fertitta Center.
It was a much needed statement win for the Cougars, who are now back in the win column after three straight losses. Houston improves to 24-5 on the season and 12-4 in the Big 12. UH moved up two spots back into second overall in the conference standings. Houston is also 14-1 at home.
Here's the good, bad and ugly.
Good: Uzan and the Shooting
Senior point guard Milos Uzan led the way for the Cougars in a big way with a career-high 26 points on 9/13 (69%) shooting along with going 5/7 from three. He added six assists and no turnover in 32 minutes. This was a welcoming sight for Houston, as Uzan displayed his aggresiveness and was on fire from beyond the arc.
It set the tone for the rest of the offense. Houston shot a whooping 60% from the field and 59% from three (10/17). This was honestly not a suprise to see given UH's terrible shooting woes against No. 14 Kansas on Monday. The Coogs were due for a bounce-back. The Cougars had seven players in double digits, including all five starters. Uzan set the tone for the entire offense.
Junior forward Joseph Tugler added a season high 14 points and was 6/7 from the free throw line. Houston added 29 bench points. 10 were from each redshirt freshman Chase McCarty and sophomore guard Mercy Miller. Houston crossed 100 points for the second time this season.
Bad: Big Men Fouls
There wasn't a lot of bad and ugly in this game, but both freshman big man Chris Cenac Jr. and Tugler as usual struggled with fouls. Cenac Jr. picked up four in this game and only played 19 minutes that paved the way for senior Kalifa Sakho's nine points in 15 minutes. Tugler only played 19 minutes as well and picked up three personals.
While Cenac Jr. scored 12 points, he only grabbed three rebounds. Senior guard Emanuel Sharp struggled again with just 10 points and going 2/7 from the field, along with three fouls and two turnovers.
Houston gave up double-digit points to three Buffaloes starters, including 19 to freshman guard Isaiah Johnson and 15 to Bangot Dak.
Ugly: Bad Start
The initial thought was that Houston would come out with an extra level of intensity after having lost three games in a row for the first time since 2017. Fans were expecting UH to unleash the losing frustration on Colorado and while that eventually happened with the 40-point win, it did not seem that way in the beginning.
Instead, Houston was down 5-0 out of the gate and 10-2 at the 17 minute mark of the first half. Colorado continued to respoind and was also up 16-11 with 14:34 in the first half. After that, it was all Houston.
Up next, Houston will play its last home game of the season against Baylor on Wednesday night.
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.