Houston basketball looks to bounce back at home after a tough loss vs Auburn.
The #8 Houston Cougars play one game this week, vs the Louisiana Rajin Cajuns where UH will look to get back in the win column in dominant fashion.
Game information:
Teams: Houston (1-1) and Louisiana (1-1)
Tip time: 7 p.m. CST (8 p.m. EST)
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: KPRC 950, Varsity Network App
What to know about Louisiana:
The Rajin Cajuns enter this game with a 1-1 record after an 82-65 win at home over Texas-Dallas. Head coach Bob Marlin is in his 15th year at Louisiana and is 2-5 vs Houston in his career. Marlin is 0-2 vs Kelvin Sampson with one loss coming when Sampson was at Oklahoma.
“Bob has been an outstanding coach in this game for a long time. I’ve always had great respect for him. They’re very quick, very athletic, they shoot a lot of threes,” said head coach Kelvin Sampson.
The Cougars have a 10-7 lead over Louisiana all-time. Houston has won three of the last four meetings, which includes a 71-56 win at Fertitta Center in their last encounter back in 2021. All those three wins were by 12+ points.
Latest on Houston basketball:
The Cougars were ranked #8 in the first national polls of the year. This was the 87th straight week Houston basketball was ranked, which is the longest streak in the nation and a school record. UH has also appeared in the top 10 of the last 42 AP polls, leading the country and extending a school record.
After a loss under head coach Kelvin Sampson’s leadership, the Coogs are 27-2, winning by an average of 18 points.
In his weekly press conference, Sampson mentioned how freshman guard Mercy Miller needs more playing time and needs to figure out his place in the rotation, as he is a natural scorer.
Houston’s head man also learned a lot from the Auburn loss, such as that the offensive side of the ball needs to be quicker, after an inconsistent performance vs #5 Auburn and their physical defense.