HOUSTON – The 2025-26 season kicked off for Lehigh men’s basketball on Monday evening from the Fertitta Center against the No. 2/2 Houston Cougars. The Mountain Hawks hung tough with reigning Big 12 champions but fell by a score of 75-57.

“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 Murray H. Goodman ’48 head 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.”

Lehigh (0-1) and Houston (1-0) have met twice prior to Monday’s game, with the last coming in 2013. Prior to tipoff, Houston unveiled their newest banner inside the Fertitta Center celebrating last season’s trip to the Final Four.

Houston started off the game hot, opening the season with a 12-0 run through the first five minutes of action. The Mountain Hawks then settled in, opening a 6-0 run to cut the lead to seven. A 7-1 run in the ensuing minutes helped the Cougars jump ahead 22-9 before a Caleb Thomas triple cut Lehigh’s deficit back down to ten. Lehigh kept pace with the national runners-up before Houston ended the half on an 8-0 run to enter the locker room ahead 44-23.

Despite facing a hostile crowd of over 7,000 fans, the Mountain Hawks stayed composed throughout the second half. Lehigh shot 41.7% from the field while holding Houston to 29.0% in the final 20 minutes, ultimately outscoring the Cougars 34-31. The Mountain Hawks pulled to within 15 points at multiple points in the frame off the heels of big buckets from junior Nasir Whitlock, sophomore Peter Kramer and sophomore Hank Alvey. However, Lehigh’s first half deficit was ultimately too much to overcome.

Lehigh shot 37.3% (19-51) from the field and 26.7% (4-15) from three while hitting 65.2% (15-23) of its free throws. Houston posted shooting splits of 42.6% (26-61) from the field, 33.3% (7-21) from three and 80.0% (16-20) from the line. Lehigh forced 13 Houston turnovers, scoring ten points from them. The Cougars won the battle on the boards 43-30.

Whitlock shined for the Mountain Hawks, leading the team with 18 points and a career and team-high nine rebounds.

“[Nasir] is a very talented player and he’s somebody who wants to step in and lead our team,” said Reed. “Tonight, he led us with a great offensive performance, but there were still some things that he could continue to do better. I think that’s what he’s hungry for, he wants to be the best version of himself.”

In his collegiate debut, Thomas posted ten points, three assists and two rebounds in 29 minutes.

“That’s tough defense for a first-year point guard to go against,” said Reed. “[Caleb] played assertively and aggressively. The one thing that was really evident was his incredible speed with the basketball because he was able to turn the corner against some very athletic defenders.”

Alvey also reached double-figures with ten points and eight rebounds. Joshua Ingram and Kramer chipped in nine and six points respectively.

The Cougars were led by Emanuel Sharp with a game-high 24 points while Chris Cenac Jr. (12p), Milos Uzan (12p) and Joseph Tugler (11p) joined him in double-figures.

The Mountain Hawks will play their home opener inside Grace Hall against Valley Forge on Thursday, November 6 at 7 p.m. Lehigh basketball played its home games at Grace Hall from 1942-1979.

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