(Photo credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images)

When answering a question about working one of his freshmen into the fold, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson got sidetracked as he made a request to the assembled media.

'I want everybody to stop comparing this team to last year's team. This team will never be as good as that team -- most teams won't,' Sampson said of the Cougars squad that reached the national title game, losing to Florida. '... I want this team to be as good as it can be. Not as good as this team or that team; that's kinda silly.'

Indeed, No. 7 Houston bears little resemblance to the 2024-25 squad that won 35 games, with only Emanuel Sharp, Milos Uzan and Joseph Tugler as the key returning pieces. Sampson's new roster has been powered by first-year players, and he'll continue to build their games and confidence when the Cougars host New Orleans on Saturday afternoon.

The freshman who Sampson was asked about was Isiah Harwell, one of three five-star recruits in Houston's class along with Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr. While Flemings (14.8 points, 5.1 assists per game) and Cenac (8.9 points, 7.7 rebounds per game) have been impressive early in their college careers, Harwell had made less of an impact in limited minutes off the bench.

Then came Wednesday's game against Jackson State, when Harwell scored a career-high 20 points in 24 minutes, including four 3-pointers, in an 80-38 win.

Part of Harwell's journey has been recovering from a torn ACL late in his high school career, owing to his slower development this season.

'They never gave up on me, never gave up confidence in me,' said Harwell, who is averaging 5.3 points per game. 'Coach always put confidence in me, the team always hyping me and still putting confidence in me. I think that's part of their program and that's why I came here. So really I don't take any credit for it; it was all the team that put me in this position.'

Harwell and Sharp (23 points) combined to provide more than half of Houston's offense on Wednesday. Sharp leads Houston at 18.1 points per game and has shot 41.2% from 3-point range, while Flemings has hit 53.8% (14 of 26).

Houston will welcome nearby New Orleans (3-7), which has had an up-and-down season.

The Privateers opened with a 78-74 upset of TCU, a team that went on to beat Florida and Wisconsin in a Thanksgiving week tournament. New Orleans also beat Tulane by 22 before losing six games in a row. It concluded a season-opening, eight-game road swing featuring games at Mississippi State, Texas Tech and Memphis.

'It's not ideal to start with eight games on the road,' coach Stacy Hollowell told NOLA.com recently. '(The schedule) is on par with what the best teams in the country are doing. For us to be competing shows that we have a team that can be formidable in our league.'

New Orleans pulled out of that drought Monday by beating Incarnate Word 84-83, fending off a late push after having led by 15. TJ Cope (19 points) and Jakevion Buckley (18 points, seven assists) were among four Privateers to score in double figures.

Coleton Benson (15.1 ppg), Buckley (14.4) and MJ Thomas (10.2 ppg, team-high 7.5 rebounds) power the Privateers.

--Field Level Media