No. 1 Houston, men’s college basketball’s defending national runners-up, will seek revenge against the Auburn Tigers on Sunday afternoon.
Houston, they had a problem… and now’s their chance to fix it.
The top-ranked Cougars, the defending national finalists, face an opportunity to right one of their few wrongs from last season as they face No. 22 Auburn in a Sunday afternoon clash at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. The two non-conference powers meet again after the Tigers took a 74-69 decision at Toyota Center in Houston last fall, one of four losses the Cougars endured en route to the program’s first appearance in the national championship game since 1984.
Thrust into the No. 1 spot ahead of Purdue, the Cougars took each of their first three games in convincing fashion at their home of Fertitta Center. The most recent was a 78-45 demolition of Oakland on Wednesday night, having previously defeated Lehigh and Towson by double-figures. Serendipitous scoring from Kingston Flemings and Emanuel Sharp led the way, as the two each scored 19 points on a combined 15-of-25 from the field.
Bruce Pearl and #11 Auburn pull off the upset over #4 Houston 74-69. MAJOR UPSET despite the “Horseplay” pic.twitter.com/V3AAtNMbB4
— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) November 10, 2024
Houston vs Auburn: Matchup of Last Year’s Final Four Teams
Despite the surprise departure of Bruce Pearl in late September, the Tigers have gotten off to a strong start under his son Steven, overcoming a dangerous overtime challenge from Bethune-Cookman in their opener to post sizable triumphs over Merrimack and Wofford. In the latter part of that couple, Auburn downed the Terriers 93-62, thanks in part to another double-decade outing from well-traveled guard/forward Keyshawn Hall.
The former Central Florida Knight, who led the Big 12 in scoring last season, has scored at least 20 in each part of the opening trio. Auburn, of course, ended the Bruce Pearl era in relative style, using the success of the win over the Cougars to join them in the Final Four, where they likewise fell to eventual champion Florida.
In last year’s matchup, Auburn concluded the game on an 8-2 run over the final two-plus minutes to seal the deal. Returning point guard Tahaad Pettiford sank five three-pointers as part of a 21-point night, while the departed Chaney Johnson put up an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double. Current NBAer Johni Broome also tallied 20, enough to negate the Cougar-best 13 from Sharp, who shot only 3-of-9 in defeat.
Who: No. 1 Houston Cougars (3-0) vs. No. 22 Auburn Tigers (3-0)
Where: Legacy Arena, Birmingham, AL
When: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN
Who’s Favored: UH -7.5 (O/U: 140.5)
Cougar to Watch: Milos Uzan
Houston restocked the old-fashioned way after reaching the national final by headlining their offseason with touted five-star freshmen like center Chris Cenac Jr. and shooting guard Isiah Harwell. It was relatively quiet in the portal this time around, but it recently reaped its benefits through Milos Uzan, who originally hailed from Oklahoma.
Uzan turned down an NBA opportunity to help the Cougars take the last necessary step on the championship trek, but has struggled in the early going, averaging only 8.7 points through the first three while shooting less than 23 percent from 3-point range … a drop of over 20 points from the year prior. Auburn likes to slow things down, and UH’s early defensive returns rank toward the top of the national rankings in the ridiculously early going. A breakout offensive performance from a reliable, familiar source could well be the difference on Sunday, and Uzan would be a prime candidate to fill that role for the Cougars.
Tiger to Watch: Emeka Opurum
Despite losing Broome and Dylan Cardwell to the NBA, the Tigers have gotten by with brilliant frontcourt efforts in the early going: Hall has handled things on both the scoring and rebounding fronts, as he entered the weekend as the SEC leader in boards per game at 11. Freshman Flip Jovic is also averaging six a game, as is D-II transfer Elyjah Freeman. All in all, Auburn is outrebounding its opponents by 20, including a whopping plus-21 advantage against Wofford (plus-12 on the offensive glass alone).
Up next for Auburn: No. 1 Houston
— The Barn (@TheBarn_Auburn) November 12, 2025
Kevin Overton: “I didn’t win at the crib last time I played them, so this is another good battle for me. Different team, same approach.”
Elyjah Freeman: “I’m just too hungry. I wanna beat them so bad. I’m already having lucid dreams about it.” pic.twitter.com/KNPDEpdoS4
But the Tigers are somewhat ailing in the paint, as they figure to have valuable in-conference transfer KeShawn Murphy available only in an emergency on Sunday. That could open the door for the seven-footer Emeka Opurum, who has manned the paint over the last two games to the tune of 11 rebounds, five blocks, and a 6-of-7 shooting output. Opurum may not be the flashiest acquisition on either side (especially in Auburn, which is also rolling with 6-8 Mississippi State transfer Sebastian Williams-Adams), but he could emerge as an unexpected hero if the Tigers need to dive into their interior depth.
They Said It
“Keep showing up every day with the right attitude. Come from a position of humility, guys who aren’t humble think they know everything. You can just tell by their attitude, the entitlement, we don’t have those kinds of people in this program. So just keep progressing, you never go from 1 to 100 in November or December, and some teams never get to it, but you’re always striving, working, and always coming up with different ideas on how to help this kid.”—Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson on what he wants to see from his high-profile freshmen (h/t Ylver Delion-Rios, Houston Cougars on SI)
“I don’t think Coach Sampson even knows this, but I watch what they do from a distance and I admire what they do from a distance more than probably anyone in the country. Defensively, when we really made an adjustment in how we guarded and the effort that we played with, a lot of it was from film that I watched of Houston and how aggressively they flew to the ball and impacted ball screens and just tried to disrupt teams … I have a ton of respect for him, his staff and their program and how they operate. They’re the standard in college basketball.”—Steven Pearl (h/t KNBR)
Prediction
It’s nice to see that Auburn overcame the shock of Bruce Pearl’s departure to post some convincing wins after Bethune-Cookman took them to the brink, but it’s clear that the Tigers are still a work in progress. The same could well be said about a UH group that mostly turned to high-profile freshmen to fill their gaps, but they’re the ones holding the top seed as the season’s second week draws to a close.
Expect Auburn to put up another strong fight, especially in front of a de facto home crowd in Birmingham, but also for the Cougars to take advantage of their first major test of the follow-up to last year’s championship run.
Houston 84, Auburn 72
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
