No. 2 Houston Cougars return three starters after heartbreaking national title loss

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The second-ranked Cougars are expected to be one of the nation’s top teams after falling to Florida 65-63 in the national title game last season. They return three starters and seven lettermen from a team that won 31 of its final 33 games last season to advance to the Final Four for the seventh time in program history and second under coach Kelvin Sampson. Houston’s 35 wins were a school record they won both the regular season Big 12 title and the conference tournament in their second year in the league.

Emanuel Sharp (senior, G, 6-3, 12.6 ppg). Sharp returns for his fourth season with the Cougars after earning the NCAA Midwest Regional Most Outstanding Player honors and the Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player award. He’ll look to lead Houston to a title this season after failing to get a 3-pointer up that could have given the Cougars the win in last season’s championship game.

Milos Uzan (senior, G, 6-4, 11.4 ppg, 4.3 apg). Uzan, who transferred from Oklahoma before last season, is back after considering leaving for the NBA draft. He started all 40 games last season and led the Cougars with 170 assists and a 2.98 assist to turnover ratio.

Joseph Tugler (junior, F, 6-8, 5.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg) Tugler was last season’s Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and led Houston with 77 blocks and ranked second in rebounds per game.

Starters including top scorer L.J. Cryer, who averaged 15.7 points a game, and defensive standout J’Wan Roberts are both gone after exhausting their eligibility and reserve guard Terrance Arceneaux transferred to N.C. State. Sampson restocked with one of the nation’s top recruiting classes that includes forward Chris Cenac Jr., guard Isiah Harwell, point guard Kingston Flemings, guard Bryce Jackson and senior Kalifa Sakho, a 6-11 transfer from Utah State.

Cenac and Harwell were both five-star recruits and McDonald’s All-Americans and Flemings was the third-ranked point guard in the nation by multiple recruiting services.

The Cougars open the season Nov. 3 against Lehigh. Their first test will come on Nov. 16 when they meet No. 20 Auburn and they’ll face 18th-ranked Tennessee on Nov. 25. Houston will meet No. 14 Arkansas near the end of nonconference play on Dec. 20. They’ll get an early challenge in Big 12 play when they host 10th-ranked Texas Tech in their second conference game on Jan. 10.Houston visits No. 8 BYU on Feb. 7 and plays three straight ranked games against No. 16 Iowa State, No. 13 Arizona and 19th-ranked Kansas later that month.

Sampson’s first win this season will be the 800th of his career and his 300th at Houston in what will be his 12th season at the school. … Houston’s No. 2 ranking in the AP Top 25 preseason poll is tied for its highest ranking to start a season with the 1967-68 team. … The Cougars have reached the NCAA tournament in the last seven seasons that it has been played, dating back to 2018. Before that stretch they hadn’t been since 2010. … Houston has won at least 32 games in each of the last four seasons.

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