Kentucky 62, Houston 58
5 thoughts on the Cougars' loss to Kentucky in the Sweet 16
Mar 29, 2019, 11:22 pm
Kentucky 62, Houston 58
The Houston Cougars' magical season ended in the Sweet 16 with a 62-58 loss to Kentucky. The Cougars got down early and chased the game throughout. They got close late and took the lead, but could not close the deal. Five quick thoughts on the game:
The Cougars have been a great rebounding team all year, but Kentucky's size proved too much. The Wildcats out rebounded the Cougars 37-23 and dominated inside.
The Cougars defense, strong all year, could not slow down Kentucky. The No. 1 team in allowing field goal percentage before the game at under 40 percent, the Cougars could not stop the Wildcats, who shot 56 percent in the first half and 47.8 percent for the game.
Corey Davis Jr. has been a great scorer all season, but Kentucky's length and athleticism gave him fits. He forced shots and hit only 5 of 16 (1 of 7 on 3s) for 14 points in his last game as a Cougar. In general, when the Cougars lost this season, they struggled shooting the ball, and as a team they just could not make shots against the Wildcats. Give Kentucky credit for playing great defense, however. They held the Cougars to 40.4 percent shooting.
The Cougars got in foul trouble with 10 in the first half and 23 for the game. When the Cougars can get by with physical play, they tend to win. But that did not happen against Kentucky. The Wildcats were the most athletic team UH has faced, and they simply did not have the guns to keep up. That led to fouls, which led to the loss.
The Cougars will be really good again next year, assuming coach Kelvin Sampson hangs around. The guess here is he will, and despite losing Davis and Galen Robinson, the Cougars will bring back a strong squad. Maybe not as good as this year's, but they will be contenders in the AAC again. It was a great ride for UH, and it is a shame it ended when it did. The Cougars fought hard and gave themselves a chance late, but came up short. The team captured the imagination of the city and made a great run. Hopefully there is more to come.
Jacob deGrom went eight innings to win his fourth consecutive start for the Texas Rangers, who got Jake Burger's solo home run off Hunter Brown in a 1-0 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday night in an anticipated pitchers' duel that certainly lived up to expectations.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner deGrom (4-1) is having quite a comeback after missing most of the last two seasons following Tommy John surgery. The 36-year-old right-hander struck out seven, two of those to end innings with two runners on base, while walking one and giving up five hits.
Brown (6-2), who is 10 years younger that deGrom, struck out nine without a walk while scattering three hits in his first career complete game. The righty was tied for the major league lead in wins and retired the first 12 batters he faced before Adolis García lined a double to left to start the fifth.
Shawn Armstrong worked around a two-out walk in the ninth for his second save.
Burger went deep leading off the sixth, a 394-foot drive into the Texas bullpen in right-center for his fourth homer of the season.
Rangers right fielder García made a sliding catch of a sinking liner by Mauricio Dubón for the final out of the seventh when Houston had a runner at second base. García had several nice plays, including a sliding catch near the line after running a long way to open the fourth.
Bruce Bochy got his 2,195th career win to break a tie with Sparky Anderson for the sixth-most by an MLB manager. Bochy, who turned 70 last month, is in his 28th season as a manager, his third in Texas.
Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 1.78 ERA) goes into Friday night having allowed only two earned runs over 25 innings in his last four starts (3-0). Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (0-1, 15.75) makes only his third start for Houston since the 2022 World Series.