A.J. HOFFMAN

College basketball report: UT gets big win, A&M struggles, UH knocks of BYU

College basketball report: UT gets big win, A&M struggles, UH knocks of BYU
Kerwin Roach had a big game against North Carolina. Sam Wasson/Getty Images

TEXAS LONGHORNS (5-1)

Last week (1-1): W- North Carolina 92-89, L- Michigan State 78-68

This week:  Friday vs. Radford

Texas started out the Las Vegas Invitational with a bang, dropping the No. 7 ranked North Carolina Tarheels 92-89. It was a great night for Kerwin Roach, who had a career-high 32 points to go with his seven assists and six steals. Roach was incredibly efficient, shooting 12 of 15 from the field. Matt Coleman added 16 points and five assists as well. 3-point shooting was a bright spot for the Horns (for the first time all season, as they hit 46% from distance. Texas moved on to the finals of the tournament, where they took on the 11th ranked Michigan State Spartans. The game started well for Texas, as they led by as many as 19 in the first half. The Spartans bounced back, though, and dropped the Horns by a score of 78-68. The 3-point shot that worked so well against the Heels was absent, with the Longhorns shooting just 27% from behind the arc. Roach again led Texas with 15 points, but shot just 4-14 on the night. The loss was Texas’ first blemish of the season. The Longhorns play Radford at home on Friday. 

TEXAS A&M AGGIES (2-4)

Last week (1-1): L- Washington 71-67, W- South Alabama 74-62

This week: Monday (Dec. 3) vs. Northwestern State

Texas A&M led Washington by 13 in the 1st half, but defensive lapses in the second half sent the Aggies to another loss, 71-67. Jay Jay Chandler was a bright spot for the Aggies, leading them with 21 points. Fouls plagued the Aggies in this game, as the Huskies got 25 points from the free throw line. Savion Flagg made sure the Aggie’s losing streak didn’t get any longer, as he led the Ads with 25 points in a 74-62 win over South Alabama. The Aggies out rebounded the Jaguars 37-22 on the night, and added 9 blocks in the effort. The win was the 350th of Billy Gillespie’s career. The Aggies don’t play again until December 3rd when they will take on Northwestern State. 

HOUSTON COUGARS (4-0)

Last week (1-0): W- BYU 76-62

This week: Wednesday vs. UT-Rio Grande ValleySaturday vs. Oregon

Houston got a dominant win over solid BYU squad on Saturday, 76-62. The Cougars got 24 points from Corey Davis and 19-6-6 from Cedrick Alley. Senior Breaon Brady added 17 points on 8-12 shooting. Houston shot 50% from the field and out rebounded BYU 36-28. The Coogs have two games this week, against UT-Rio Grande Valley and Saturday against the Oregon Ducks. 

RICE OWLS (3-4)

Last week (0-2): L- @ BYU 105-78, L- Wichita State 90-61

This week: Wednesday @ Texas State, Saturday vs. Lamar

The schedule got tough for the Owls last week, and they didn’t hold up well to the change. They dropped a laugher to BYU, 106-78, in a game that was never close. The Owls turned it over 13 times, to the Cougars six. BYU shot 56% from the field, and overwhelmed the Owls offensively. Ako Adams led the Owls with 17 points in the loss. Things didn’t get better for Rice on their road trip to Wichita, where they dropped a 90-61 contest to the Shockers. The Owls shot the ball horribly, going 38% from the field and a pathetic 15% from 3-point distance. Jack Williams and Chris Mullins had 12 points a piece to lead the Owls in defeat. Rice goes to Texas State on Wednesday and back home for Lamar on Saturday.

BAYLOR BEARS (4-2)

Last week (1-1): L- Ole Miss 78-70, W- George Mason 72-61

This week: Wednesday vs. South Dakota, Saturday @ Wichita State

Baylor dropped a back and forth battle against Ole Miss in the opening round of the Emerald Coast Classic by a final score of 78-70. Baylor was unable to overcome a horrible 3-point shooting night, hitting only 2 of their 18 attempts. The Bears also turned the ball over 18 times on the night. Tristan Clark was a bright spot for Baylor. He scored 27 points on an impressive 11-13 shooting. The Bears looked better in the 3rd place game, taking out George Mason 72-61. King McClure scored 27 points, including going 5 3-pointers made and a team high 14 rebounds. The Bears have South Dakota at home on Wednesday and travel to Wichita State this weekend. 

TCU HORNED FROGS (4-1)

Last week (1-1): L- Lipscomb 73-64, W- Eastern Michigan 87-69

This week: Friday vs. Central Michigan

TCU became the first team ranked in the Top 25 to lose to Lipscomb in their program’s history, as the Frogs fell 73-64. TCU’s inexperience was evident as they were outworked by the senior-laden Bisons. TCU committed 16 turnovers in the loss. Alex Robinson led the Frogs in defeat, posting a 17-10-6 line in defeat. TCU came back strong against Eastern Michigan on Monday night, getting an 87-69 win. Kouat Noi had 27 points in the win, highlighted by hitting 5 out of 8 3-point attempts. The Frogs shot 61% from the field in the game. TCU gets Central Michigan at home on Friday. 

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (6-0)

Last week: W- Nebraska 70-52, W- Northern Colorado 93-62

This week: Saturday vs. Memphis

Texas Tech got their best win of the season, beating Nebraska 70-52 in the title game of the Hall of Fame Classic. Nebraska jumped out to an early double digit lead, but Tech hung around and took a lead into halftime. The second half was all Red Raiders. Jarrett Culver led Tech with 27 points in the win. Texas Tech had a 38-29 advantage on the boards in the win. Things kept rolling for Tech back in Lubbock against Northern Colorado. Culver kept the hot hand going, leading the Red Raiders with 20 points in the 93-62 win. Kyler Edwards added 19. The difference in the teams was at the 3-point line. Tech hit 10/16 and held NCU to 4/24. Texas Tech has a matchup with Memphis on Saturday. 

SMU MUSTANGS (3-3)

Last week (1-1): L- Bradley 75-62, W- Wright State 79-76

This week: Tuesday vs. Lamar, Thursday vs. McNeese, Sunday vs. Oral Roberts

SMU was lit up by the Bradley Braves in the opening round of the Cancun Challenge, dropping a 75-62 decision. The Mustangs poor shooting was an obvious culprit, as they shot just 37% from the field. Jahmal McMurray was the offensive bright spot for the Ponies, with 19 points in the loss. Jimmie Whitt had 13 rebounds. Whitt would play a bigger role in the 3rd place game of the tournament, as his 18 points were capped by the game winner with under 5 seconds to go in the 77-76 win over Wright State. McMurray again was the offensive leader, hitting 7 3-pointers as part of his 27 points. The Mustangs have a busy week ahead, with games against Lamar, McNeese and Oral Roberts this week. 

LSU TIGERS (5-2)

Last week (1-2): W- Charleston 67-55, L- Florida State 79-76 (OT), L- Oklahoma State 90-77

This week: Saturday vs. Grambling

LSU ran into their first adversity of the season last week. It started out well enough, with a 67-55 win over College of Charleston. Emmitt Williams had 14 points and 9 rebounds in the win. Things went downhill in a hard-fought battle against Florida State that the Tigers ultimately dropped, 79-76. The Seminoles hit the game winning 3 with under a second left in overtime. Skylar Mays led the Tigers with 19 in the loss. The biggest differences in the game for LSU was Florida State’s 43-30 rebounding edge and 18-12 turnover advantage. Mays again scored 20 in the 3rd place game, a 90-77 loss to Oklahoma State. Super-freshmen Nad Reid and Ja’Vonte Smart combined to go 4-22 from the field. Defense was also a struggle for the Tigers, as they allowed the Cowboys to shoot 59% from the field. LSU gets Grambling at home this weekend. 

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The Coogs are back in action Friday night. Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images.

Sixteen may be sweet, but it isn’t the only relevant number as the NCAA Tournament heads into the regional semifinals.

Here are some other numbers worth knowing for each team. These statistics will help you learn more about each of the remaining teams and could explain how some of them got this far.

EAST REGION

UCONN: In UConn’s second-round victory over Northwestern, Donovan Clingan became just the third player in tournament history to get 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks in a game. The others to do it were Hakeem Olajuwon for Houston in 1983 and David Robinson for Navy in 1986. The blocks also were the most ever by a UConn player in a tournament game.

SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs’ Sweet 16 matchup with defending national champion UConn will mark the fourth time that two teams have faced each other in the tournament a year after meeting in the final. The losing team from the championship won the rematch in one of the three previous instances, when Duke beat UNLV in a 1991 semifinal. Cincinnati won two straight championship games over Ohio State in 1961-62. Florida beat UCLA in the 2006 championship game and in a 2007 semifinal.

ILLINOIS: Illinois has won six in a row, and Terrence Shannon Jr. has scored at least 25 points in each of those games. The 6-foot-6 guard has averaged 30.5 points and has shot 52.8% (56 of 106) from the floor during that stretch. He also shown an uncanny knack for drawing fouls during the streak. Over his last five games, Shannon has gone 51 of 58 on free-throw attempts.

IOWA STATE: Iowa State is allowing just 61.2 points per game to rank fourth among all Division I teams in scoring defense. Since falling 73-65 to Houston on Feb. 19, the Cyclones haven’t allowed any of their last 10 opponents to exceed 65 points. The Cyclones next face Illinois, which ranks ninth in points per game (84.6) and has averaged 91.3 points over its last four contests.

WEST REGION

ALABAMA: Mark Sears and Aaron Estrada were the first set of Division I teammates since 1996-97 to both have at least 410 points, 125 assists, 120 rebounds, 50 3-point baskets and 40 steals during the regular season. Sears is averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals. Estrada has 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

NORTH CAROLINA: Armando Bacot had seven straight tournament double-doubles and six consecutive tourney games with at least 15 rebounds before he ended up with 18 points and seven boards in a second-round victory over Michigan State. His seven straight NCAA double-doubles matched Tim Duncan and Olajuwon for the NCAA record.

ARIZONA: Arizona’s first-round triumph over Long Beach State marked the 19th time this season the Wildcats had five different players score in double figures. No other Division I team had that many games this season in which five different players had at least 10 points.

CLEMSON: Each of Clemson’s first two tournament opponents has shot below 40% against the Tigers. Clemson won its first-round game by limiting New Mexico to 29.7% shooting, the lowest percentage the Tigers had ever allowed in an NCAA tourney game. Clemson now faces Arizona, which shot 52.8% in its second-round victory over Dayton.

MIDWEST REGION

CREIGHTON: Baylor Scheierman is the first Division I men’s player in history to have at least 2,000 career points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 3-point baskets. Scheierman, who is in his second season at Creighton after playing three seasons at South Dakota State, has 2,208 points, 1,250 rebounds, 578 assists and 352 3-pointers.

TENNESSEE: Tennessee is making its 10th Sweet 16 appearance – including its seventh in the last 18 years – but the Volunteers have never reached the Final Four and earned their lone regional final berth in 2010.

GONZAGA: Gonzaga is in the Sweet 16 for the ninth straight time, the longest active streak of any Division I team. Going back to 1975 – the first year that all teams had to win at least one game to reach the Sweet 16 – the record for consecutive Sweet 16 appearances is owned by North Carolina with 13 straight from 1981-93.

PURDUE: Zach Edey is the first player since Kareen Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) in 1968 to have at least 50 points and 35 rebounds while shooting 65% from the field in his first two games of an NCAA Tournament. Edey has shot 67.9% (19 of 28) and has totaled 53 points and 35 rebounds in victories over Grambling State and Utah State.

SOUTH REGION

DUKE: Jared McCain has gone 10 of 17 from 3-point range through the first two rounds. In the Blue Devils’ second-round blowout of James Madison, McCain became the first freshman to score at least 30 points without committing a turnover in an NCAA Tournament game since the event expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

HOUSTON: The Cougars showcased their depth by surviving a second-round matchup with Texas A&M in overtime even after four of their five starters fouled out. They became the first team to win an NCAA game while having at least four players foul out since 1987, when UTEP overcame foul trouble to beat Arizona.

MARQUETTE: Marquette owns a 75-29 record under coach Shaka Smart despite posting a negative rebound margin in each of his three seasons. The Golden Eagles have been outrebounded in each of their last eight games but have gone 5-3. They’re getting outrebounded by 3 boards per game this season. The only other Sweet 16 team with a negative rebound margin is North Carolina State (minus-0.8), which faces Marquette on Friday.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE: Mohamed Diarra has 6.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season, but he’s averaged 11.7 points and 13.5 rebounds over his last six. Michael O’Connell scored in double digits three times and totaled 14 3-point baskets in 31 regular-season games. He’s reached double figures in six of seven postseason games and has gone 12 of 22 from 3-point range during that stretch.

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