College Basketball Report: Week 12

The Baylor Bears and Houston Cougars look to continue their winning ways as Texas and A&M struggle

The Baylor Bears and Houston Cougars look to continue their winning ways as Texas and A&M struggle
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TEXAS LONGHORNS (12-7), (2-4)

Last week: (0-1): L - LSU 69-67

This week: Wednesday vs TCU,Saturdayvs. Iowa State

Even in a non-conference game, the Texas Longhorns have yet to get out of their slump. During their Big 12 vs SEC Conference showdown on Saturday, Texas dropped its third consecutive game in a two-point defeat to the streaking LSU Tigers.

In the loss, the Longhorns allowed LSU to record 15 offensive rebounds, in which the Tigers converted into 15 second-chance points. Following the win, Texas will look to end their losing skid in an interstate showdown against the TCU Horned Frogs.

TEXAS A&M AGGIES (9-9), (3-3)

Last week: (1-1): W - Mizzou 66-64, L - Oklahoma State 73-62

This week: Tuesdayvs. Tennessee, Saturday vs. Georgia

The Texas A&M Aggies survived a recording-breaking night en route to a 66-64 victory over the Mizzou Tigers. in the loss, Mizzou hit a record 54 consecutive free throws—dating back to their loss against Alabama last season.

As Mizzou shot perfect from the line until their final attempt in the closing minutes of the games, Savion Flagg and Josh Nebo scored a combined 28 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the win for the Aggies. Unfortunately, A&M would go on to lose their third game in four tries in a loss to the Mizzou Tigers.

Up next, the Aggies will return to the court on Tuesday for a match against Tennessee.

Houston Cougars (16-4), (6-1)

Last week: (2-0): W - UConn 63-59, W- USF 68-48

This week: Wednesday vs. ECU, Saturday vs. Cincinnati

Winners of 10 out of their last 11 games, the Houston Cougars swept through their opponents picking up wins against the UConn Mustangs and the USF.

DeJon Jarreau came two assists shy from recording the Cougars' first triple-double since Bo Outlaw in 1993, as the junior guard from New Orleans scored a season-high 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in the win. Following the victory, the Cougars will hit the road for an American Athletic Conference showdown against ECU (Wednesday) and Cincinnati (Saturday).

RICE OWLS (9-13), (1-8)

Last week: (0-2): L - UTEP 72-64, L- UTSA 90-88

This week: Saturday vs. North Texas

Loser of eight of their last 10 games, the Rice Owls are currently riding a five-game losing streak after a winless week.

The Owls put up a good fight in both games, with their worst coming at the hands of UTSA on Saturday in a two-point defeat. Up next, Rice will look to end their worst skid of the season on Saturday in a CUSA showdown against North Texas.

BAYLOR BEARS (17-1), (6-0)

Last week: (1-0): W - Florida 72-61

This week: Wednesday vs. Iowa State, Saturday TCU

As the No. 1 top-ranked school in the nation, the Baylor Bears took part in the Big 12 vs SEC match in a 72-61 victory over Florida on Saturday.

While extending their winning streak to 16, Macio Teague led the Bears with 16 points, six rebounds and a block. Following the win, the Bears will put their winning streak on the line against Iowa State on Wednesday.

TCU HORNED FROGS (13-6), (4-2)

Last week: (1-1): W - Texas Tech 81-49, L - Arkansas 78-67

This week: Wednesday vs Texas, Saturday vs Baylor

Prior to losing to Arkansas on Saturday, the TCU Horned Frogs picked up a much-needed conference play win in a 65-54 victory over Texas Tech. In the win, Desmond Bane had one of his best performances of the season with 27 points (10-15 FG, 6-8 3PT), while Kevin Samuel recorded a double-double of 11 points and 11 boards.

Up next, TCU will look to return to the court on Wednesday for a showdown against the struggling Texas Longhorns.

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (12-7), (3-3)

Last week: (1-1): L - Texas Tech 65-54, L - Kentucky 76-74 OT

This week: Wednesday vs West Virginia, Saturday vs Kansas

After a hot start to the season, the No. 18 Texas Tech Red Raiders are not living up to the high expectations since the start of conference play. Texas Tech's quick two-game win streak came to an end in a 65-54 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs. In the loss, TCU outscored Texas Tech by 15 points (38-23) in the second half, as well as allowing 17 second-chance points off 11 offensive rebounds.

Following an overtime inter-conference loss to Kentucky on Saturday, Texas Tech will hit the court on Wednesday in a home match against No. 12 West Virginia.

SMU MUSTANGS (15-4), (5-2)

Last week (2-0): W - ECU 84-64, W - Memphis 74-70

This week: Tuesday vs Cincinnati, Saturday vs Tulane

After taking care of business in the blowout win over ECU, the SMU Mustangs picked up a huge victory over No. 20 Memphis. It was an all-around team effort led by Kendric Davis who scored a game-high 20 points (5-11 FG, 2-6 3PT) and five assists, while Emmanuel Bandoumel added in 14 points.

Up next, the Mustangs will look to build off their perfect week on Tuesday against one of their conference rivals, the Cincinnati Bearcats in Cincinnati.

LSU TIGERS (15-4), (6-0)

Last week (2-0): W - Florida 84-82, W - Texas 69-67

This week: Wednesday vs Alabama, Saturday vs Ole Miss

The LSU Tigers continued their hot start in conference play and extended their overall winning streak to eight last week.Both games went down to the wire as the Tigers needed a potential game-winner by Florida's Keyontae Johnson waived off with 0.5 left to play. Six players scored in double-digits for LSU with Emmitt Williams leading the Tigers with 19 points.

The Tigers will return home for a SEC match against Florida on Tuesday.

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How latest Astros news reveals puzzling path forward for Houston

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Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.

Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.

He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.

Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.

Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.

The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.

“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”

And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.

Astros plate discipline

Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.

Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.

Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.

Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.

What is Dana Brown saying privately?

Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!

We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!

The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!


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