On Tuesday, Houston basketball was in for a rude awakening when taking on Tennessee. In the end, the No. 3 Cougars were upset by the No.17 Volunteers, 76-73.
Afterward, Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson heaped praise on Tennessee guard Bishop Boswell for his performance, per Ben McKee of 24/7 Sports. He played an integral role in Tennessee coming out on top, playing 32 minutes and scoring 10 points.
“A lot of respect for that young man. He's tough and he's a winner. Every coach in America would love to have Boswell.”
As a result, Tennessee is now 7-0 and will face off against the 5-2 Kansas Jayhawks at home on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Houston will take on Notre Dame the same day.
Boswell is averaging 5.8 points and 5.0 rebounds. Sampson has been the head coach at Houston since 2014. Last year, the Cougars made it all the way to the Final Four. Ultimately, they lost to the Florida Gators in the NCAA championship game.
Also, Tennessee finished last season with a 30-8 record and a 12-6 SEC record. Ironically, they lost to Houston in the Elite Eight.
Meanwhile, Boswell is in his sophomore season. Last year, he played in 27 games; he has started in three and played in four so far this year.
The history of the Tennessee/Houston rivalry
Battles between the Volunteers and the Cougars have been going on since 1970. During the 1970-71 season, both teams met for the first time at Knoxville on Dec. 5. Tennessee came out on top with a 79-58 win.
Before the 2024-2025 season, the two teams duked it out last during the 1995-96 season. At that time, Tennessee was victorious by a score of 69-49, playing in Knoxville. Afterwards, the two didn't meet for another 21 years until last season's Elite Eight.
This year marked the first time they had met in the regular season. Overall, Tennessee holds a 4-3 record over Houston.
