Houston continued its identity as a defensive juggernaut, earning its first victory of the season with an 84-56 defeat of Alabama State behind freshman guard Marcus Sasser’s 14 points.
Sasser shot 5 of 9 from the field in his Cougars debut. However, the key to the Cougars’ victory was their defense as the defending American Athletic Conference regular season champions held the visiting Hornets to just 34.7 percent from the field.
Fresh off the program’s best NCAA Tournament appearance in three decades, head coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad was one of the nation’s strongest defensive units a year ago, ranking No.