West Virginia's Jasper Floyd (1) defends against Houston's Milos Uzan during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

MORGANTOWN — Houston’s top-ranked defense in the Big 12 just may have set a new standard Tuesday.

Unfortunately, it was West Virginia that became the latest victim.

The seventh-ranked Cougars – the defending Big 12 champs and the national runner-up last season – put on a defensive clinic, holding the Mountaineers to just five points over the first 15 minutes of the game, on their way to a 77-48 victory inside the Fertitta Center.

What did it look like? To the Mountaineers (11-6, 2-2 Big 12), it probably looked as if Houston was playing defense with six or seven guys on the floor.

The Cougars trapped under the basket, out beyond the 3-point line and along the sidelines, creating havoc and indecision along the way.

It took nearly eight minutes for WVU to get just its second basket of the game. Its first five possessions of the game created a multiple of two: Two points, two turnovers, two missed free throws and two quick fouls by center Harlan Obioha.

It didn’t get much better from there. Passes flew either into the stands or into press row. Houston (16-1, 4-0) gobbled up extra possessions with offensive rebounds and guard Emanuel Sharp shadowed WVU sharpshooter Honor Huff wherever he went.

Huff, coming off two games against Cincinnati and Kansas in which he averaged nearly 24 points per game, could only get open looks against Houston if they came from 30-feet away. He did nail one of them, but many others flew off the mark.

By the end of the first half, WVU had seven turnovers and six baskets.

The lone bright spot for WVU was freshman forward D.J. Thomas, but even that came with a sour side note. Thomas canned three 3-pointers over the first half and he scored 11 of the Mountaineers’ first 18 points, but he was whistled for his third foul late in the first half. He finished with 16 points to lead the Mountaineers.

All of it was a similar story to West Virginia’s past games against Houston. WVU fell to 0-4 all-time against the Cougars with all four losses coming by an average of 23 points per game. The 48 points scored was WVU’s fewest in any of the four games against Houston and it was the Mountaineers’ lowest scoring output since getting held to 39 points by Kentucky in the 2015 NCAA tournament.

On the other side, it wasn’t as Houston blazed the nets, but it didn’t have to, either.

Miloz Uzan broke out of a shooting slump that saw him shooting just 26.4% from 3-point range coming into the game, but he went 5 of 9 from behind the arc against WVU. Uzan finished with 17 points and Sharp added 13, as Houston finished with 11 3-pointers.

Tugler had an all-around performance with 10 points, six rebounds and four steals.

WVU got as close as 38-27 five minutes into the second half, but then Sharpe nailed a step-back three, Joseph Tugler scored on a tip-in and Uzan connected on another 3-pointer.

Just like that, Houston’s lead was back up to 46-27, eliminating any chance of a second-half comeback.

The game was billed as a defensive showdown, with Houston and WVU ranking as the top two scoring defenses in the Big 12, but the Cougars left little doubt as to which defense was better.

In all, WVU was held to a season low 38% shooting (17-of-46) and finished with more turnovers (15). Huff was held to just 13 points on 4 of 11 shooting.

Houston finished with a 38-29 rebounding advantage and came away with 12 offensive rebounds and 19 second-chance points.