By 
No. 10 Houston opens the 2026-27 men's basketball season against La Salle.
When: 8 p.m. Monday.
Where: Fertitta Center (7,035).
TV: CBS Sports Network with Tom McCarthy (play-by-play) and Chris Walker (analyst) and Gary Parrish (sideline reporter).
Radio: 950 AM with Jeremy Branham (play-by-play) and Elvin Hayes (analyst). The game is also streamed on The Varsity app, SiriusXM (channels 177 and 237) and the SiriusXM app (channel 961).
Houston vs. La Salle
Series history: Houston leads 1-0.
Last meeting: Houston beat La Salle 90-87 on Dec. 30, 1975, in the Holiday Classic in Las Vegas.
La Salle Explorers
Conference: Atlantic 10
Location: Philadelphia
Coach: Darris Nichols (9-23 in one season at La Salle; 77-86 in five seasons overall).
2025-26 record: 9-23.
About the Explorers: Picked to finish 13th among 14 teams in the A-10 preseason poll. … La Salle returns seven players and added 11 newcomers this offseason. … During last season's 23-loss campaign, the Explorers used 23 starting lineup combinations. … Guard Rob Dockery, who began his career at Texas A&M, was named the preseason A-10 second team. He had a breakout season as a redshirt sophomore, leading the team with 12.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. He finished strong, averaging 23.6 points and eight rebounds over the final six games. … Point guard Jaden Johnson started 19 games as a sophomore after being sidelined by injury in non-conference play. He was tied for second in A-10 with a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. … Guard Kam Burton is a transfer from Stephen F. Austin, where he averaged 7.9 points and was second on the team with 76 3-pointers. He attended Legacy The School for Sport Sciences in Spring. … Forward Anthony Finkley made 13 starts at St. Joseph's, which reached the NIT quarterfinals. … Forward Jerome Brewer Jr. shot 47.7% from the field in 19 games before missing the remainder of the season due to injury. He is not expected to be ready for the season opener. … La Salle was 342nd nationally in scoring, averaging 67.1 points per game last season.
Houston Cougars
Coach: Kelvin Sampson (329-91 in 12 seasons at Houston; 829-361 in 37 seasons overall).
2025-26 record: 30-7
Rankings:No. 8 (coaches poll), No. 10 (AP)
About the Cougars: Coach Kelvin Sampson welcomes nine newcomers for his 13th season at UH. Forward Joseph Tugler is the only returning starter from last year's 30-win team that reached the Sweet 16. … Forward Chase McCarty and guard Mercy Miller move into starting roles on the perimeter after serving as backups in previous seasons. … Point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., a transfer from LSU, and Tugler were named to the All-Big 12 preseason team. … UH has won 17 consecutive season openers and 21 of the past 22 overall. … Sampson is 34-3 as a head coach in season openers. … Forward Delrecco Gillespie led the nation with 22 double-doubles in 34 games at Kent State last season. … UH has won 53 of its past 55 games at Fertitta Center. … Five consecutive 30-win seasons are the longest active streak in the nation. … UH's 273 victories over the past nine seasons are the most among Division I teams. … Keep an eye on reserve guard Corey Hadnot II, who averaged 20.4 points last season at Purdue Fort Wayne.
Subscribe
There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at UH basketball vs. La Salle: How to watch, what to know about Cougars' season opener.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/uh-basketball-vs-la-salle-140000244.html
