Emanuel Sharp dropped 24 points, Kelvin Sampson notched his 800th career win, and Houston unveiled its Final Four banner — a fitting way to kick off a season built on unfinished business.
Before a single ball was tipped Monday night inside Fertitta Center, Kelvin Sampson’s program gave its fans something to roar about. A banner — the second Final Four banner in five seasons — was unveiled, a permanent reminder of just how far Houston has come and how close it came to a national title last spring.
Then the game started, and the Cougars got right back to business.
Emanuel Sharp scored a game-high 24 points, Chris Cenac Jr. posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds in his collegiate debut, and No. 2 Houston rolled past Lehigh 75–57 in front of over 7,000 fans to open the 2025–26 season. In the process, Sampson notched the 800th win of his 37-year coaching career — becoming just the 17th Division I coach and fourth active coach to reach the milestone, joining Rick Barnes, John Calipari, and Bill Self.
Not a bad way to tip off a revenge tour.
Out of the Gates Fast
Houston wasted no time establishing dominance. The Cougars opened with a 12–0 run through the first five minutes of action before the lead grew to 15–2 behind 10 first-half points from Cenac — the freshman big man scored a three-pointer with 14:10 remaining in the half to push the lead to 13. Lehigh opened the game one for ten from the field and simply couldn’t keep pace with Houston’s early physicality and length.
Lehigh then settled in, cutting the deficit to seven with a 6–0 run of their own. But Houston answered with a 7–1 surge to push ahead 22–9, and the Cougars closed the half on an 8–0 run to take a 44–23 lead into the locker room. Sharp added 13 of his 24 in the first half on five-of-eight shooting, and Houston shot a blistering 57% from the field before intermission.
Lehigh Showed Some Grit
To the Mountain Hawks’ credit, they didn’t fold. Lehigh actually outscored Houston 34–31 in the second half, shooting 41.7% from the field while holding the Cougars to just 29% over the final 20 minutes. Nasir Whitlock led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds — a legitimate performance against a top-two program — while freshmen Caleb Thomas and Hank Alvey each added 10 points. Lehigh pulled to within 15 points at multiple stretches off buckets from Whitlock, Peter Kramer, and Alvey.
“We knew that Houston is a great team, and we knew that they were going to come with a lot of energy and pride off of a Final Four and championship appearance,” said Lehigh coach Brett Reed. “I thought our guys fought for 40 minutes. There are things I know we can do better, but I think we earned a lot of respect from people the way in which we battled, competed, and went together as a unit.”
He was right. But the first-half hole was simply too deep to climb out of.
Cenac Announces Himself
The storyline no one saw coming heading into the night was the 18-year-old stepping out of the tunnel for the first time. Cenac’s double-double in his first collegiate game — against a top-two team, in front of 7,000 fans — was the kind of debut that turns heads across the country. Physical, fearless, and clearly not intimidated by the moment, the freshman forward gave Houston a new dimension that last year’s squad didn’t always have.
Milos Uzan added 12 points, Joseph Tugler chipped in 11 points with a game-high four blocked shots, and the full starting unit looked every bit as polished as a team that spent all summer thinking about what happened in April.
800 and Counting
In the celebration that followed, the 800-win milestone took center stage. Sampson improved to 800–354 overall and 300–84 since arriving in Houston in 2014. The win also marked Houston’s 17th straight season-opening victory and the 21st time in the last 22 years they’ve won their opener. He was characteristically understated about the milestone.
“It’s hard to make this tournament. It’s really hard,” he said — though on this night, his mind was already pointed toward what comes next.
Up Next
Houston returns to Fertitta Center on Saturday to host Towson at 2 p.m. on ESPN+. The homestand continues Wednesday, November 12, against Oakland.
The banner is hung. Win number 800 is in the books. Now the Cougars get to work.