College Basketball Report: Week 16

The Baylor Bears' 23-game winning streak comes to an end against Kansas

Coty Davis
Feb 25, 2020, 8:39 am
Shaka Smart and Texas are fading fast. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

TEXAS LONGHORNS (17-11), (7-8)

Last week: (3-0): W - TCU 70-56, W - Kansas State 70-59, W - West Virginia 67-57

This week: Saturday vs. Texas Tech

The Texas Longhorns ended their four-game losing streak in a 70-56 home victory over the TCU Horn Frogs on Wednesday. Sophomore guard Andrew Jones recorded a career-best 21 points (7-14 FG, 3-5 FG), while freshman center Will Baker added a career-high 20 points in the win.

Up next, the Longhorns will prepare for an in-state match against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, after picking up two more victories against Kansas State (70-59) and West Virginia (67-57).

TEXAS A&M AGGIES (14-12), (8-6)

Last week: (2-0): W - Alabama 74-68, W - Mississippi State 87-75

This week: Tuesday vs. Kentucky, Saturday vs. LSU

The Texas A&M Aggies have found their stride with four games left before the start of the SEC Tournament. Last week, the Aggies won back-to-back games, picking up wins against the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

In both games, Texas A&M received great production from their frontcourt duo of Quenton Jackson and senior Josh Nebo. Jackson led the way averaging a team-high 19.0 points 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals, while Nebo averaged 17.5 points and 5.0 rebounds over the past week.

Up next, the Aggies will look to extend their winning streak on Wednesday, in a home match against No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats.

Houston Cougars (27-7), (11-4)

Last week: (1-1): W- Tulsa 76-43, L - Memphis 60-59

This week: Sunday vs. Cincinnati

After handing the Tulsa Golden Hurricane their worst loss of the season, the Houston Cougars dropped a heartbreaking defeat to the Memphis Tigers in a 70-69 loss Saturday afternoon.

In one of his best performances of his collegiate career, Houston's freshman guard Caleb Mills scored a game-high 21 points (7-14 FG, 2-4 3PT), while Marcus Sasser added in 18 points for the Cougars.

After a slow start to the game, the Cougars played from behind for a majority of the game, as they trailed 27-23 entering the halftime break. Although Houston won the second period by three (36-33), Memphis closed out the game in the final seconds, as forward Precious Achiuwa hit two go-ahead free throws with 28.2 seconds left.

With only one game on the schedule, the Cougars will return to the court on Sunday in a home match against the Cincinnati Bearcats.

RICE OWLS (13-15), (5-10)

Last week: (0-1): L- UTEP 68-62

This week: Sunday vs. Middle Tennessee

Despite leading by 13 points at the half, the Rice Owls were outscored 49-30 during the second period, as the UTEP Miners took a comeback 68-60 victory on Saturday.

The Owls held a 32-19 lead at the half which extended to 19 after a hot start to the second half. Unfortunately, Rice missed their next 13 shots as UTEP went on a 19-0 run to ignite a comeback victory over. The Owls also had no answer for UTEP's senior guard Daryl Edwards registered a career-best 34 points (11-22 FG, 8-12 3pt) in 40 minutes of action.

Following their most disappointing loss of the season, the Owls will take on Middle Tennessee on Sunday, inside Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston.

BAYLOR BEAR (24-2), (13-1)

Last week: (1-1): W - Oklahoma 64-54, L - Kansas 64-61

This week: Tuesday vs. Kansas State, Saturday vs. TCU

After extending their winning streak to 23 in a victory over Oklahoma, the No. 1 Baylor Bears dropped their first game since Nov. 8 in a 64-61 loss to the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks, Saturday afternoon in Waco. Kansas' Udoka Azubuike determined to be too much for the Bears to handle, as the senior big man recorded a double-double of 23 points and a career-high 19 rebounds in the win.

With 6:30 left in the second half, the Jayhawks held a 10-point lead before Baylor embarked on a late-game surge. The Bears connected on back-to-back 3-point field goals and came within one (62-61) with 18 seconds left in the game. After two made free-throws by Isaiah Moss (who added in 13 points), Baylor's Jared Butler missed a potential game-tying 3-point field goal for a chance to send the game into overtime.

Up next, the Bears will look to return to their winning ways on Tuesday, in a home match against Kansas State.

TCU Horned Frogs (15-12), (6-8)

Last week: (1-1): L - Texas 70-56, W - West Virginia 67-60 OT

This week: Tuesday vs. Iowa State, Saturday vs. Baylor

After suffering a blowout loss at the hands of the Texas Longhorns, the TCU Horn Frogs picked up a much-needed victory in a 67-60 overtime win over West Virginia on Saturday. The win over West Virginia marked TCU's largest comeback of the season, as the Horn Frogs trailed by 10 early in the second period.

Only two players scored in double-figures with Kevin Samuel leading the way with 19 points (7-7 FG), eight rebounds, five blocks and two steals, while Both RJ Nembhard scored 16 points apiece on 50% shooting from the field. After the win, TCU will return to action on Tuesday in a match against Iowa State.

Texas Tech Red Raiders (18-9), (9-5)

Last week: (2-0): W- Kansas State 69-62, W - Iowa State 87-57

This week: Tuesday vs. Oklahoma, Saturday vs. Texas

Prior to picking up their largest win of the season in a 30-point victory over the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday, the Texas Tech Red Raiders survived a 69-62 win over the Kansas State Wildcats on Tuesday. Texas Tech did so by out-shooting the Cyclones, as they connected for 50.0% of their shots from the floor.

With four triples on the night, Davide Moretti scored a team-high 18 points, while Jahmi'us Ramsey went for 17 points and Kyler Edwards added in 14 in the win. Texas Tech will return to the court on Tuesday for a BIG 12 match against the Oklahoma Sooners, before taking on the Texas Longhorns on Saturday.

SMU Mustangs (18-8), (8-6)

In what could have been an easy week for SMU, the Mustangs dropped back-to-back disappointing loss to the Tulsa Golden Hurrican and Tulane Green Waves.

In both games, the Mustangs defense was a no-show, as their opponents shot a combined 52.9% from the field and a sizzling 41% from behind the arc. In the loss against Tulane, four players scored in double-figures with Teshaun Hightower leading the way with a career-best 26 points on the night. Up next, SMU will look to end their two-game skid on Tuesday, in a match against the Memphis Tigers.

LSU Tigers (19-8), (10-4)

Last week: (1-1): L - Kentucky 79-76, W - South Carolina 86-80

This week: Wednesday vs. Florida, Saturday vs. Texas A&M

The Tigers came three-point shy from pulling off an upset, as the Kentucky Wildcats came away with a 79-76 victory over LSU. Despite a well-rounded team performance from LSU, the Wildcats' hot shooting gave them the advantage. Kentucky shot 74% from the floor while connecting on seven out of eight 3-point field goals during the second half.

After the tough loss, the Tigers bounced back with an 86-80 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks. In the win, sophomore guard Javonte Smart led LSU in the win with 18 points, while freshman forward Trendon Watford notched a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win.

Up next, LSU will return to the court on Wednesday to face off against the Florida Gators.

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THE LEFT TURN

NASCAR: Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 preview

Photo via: WikiCommons.

This week the NASCAR cup series heads to the world center of racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the inaugural fourth of July version of the Brickyard 400. This is unprecedented for NASCAR considering over the course of 50 years they are usually in Daytona around this time. While this move was met with a lot of criticism from fans, there is a positive to come from this move though, as the sport will hold their first doubleheader with Indycar. This has been talked about for many years and now it has finally come to fruition. Another new facet of this weekend will be the Xfinity Series running on the road course configuration. This could very well lead to the cup series transitioning from the oval to the road course next season should everything go well when the Xfinity series does it. It will definitely be an interesting weekend.

Last week, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin dominated the first-ever doubleheader at Pocono. The two drivers finished first and second in both races with Harvick taking race one and Hamlin winning race two. Both of these races came down to pit-road strategy as Harvick was able to eke out a victory by taking two tires and fuel while his teammate Aric Almirola took four. The next day Denny Hamlin pretty much had the whole field covered as he went on to claim his fourth victory of the season. Overall, the idea of two races in a weekend went over well but for the racing itself, it was hard to watch. One of the main issues I had was how the drivers didn't have to shift this week. In my opinion, that was what made this track so unique. It was an oval that had road course characteristics and it usually produced some pretty good finishes. Hopefully this will be addressed when the new car makes its debut in 2022.

One of the big stories going into this week is the announcement a couple of weeks ago that NASCAR will be moving their all-star event to Bristol Motor Speedway. Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a whirlwind of news from the Bubba Wallace story at Talladega, to the doubleheader races last week. A lot of this has put this announcement on the back burner but this is a huge story. The race will be held on Wednesday, July 15th as NASCAR continues with midweek races. This is the first time since 1986 that the race will not be run at NASCAR's home track in Charlotte back when it took place at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The format will be pretty much the same as all the winners from 2019 and 2020 will all have an automatic birth into the race while the rest of the field will run in the open event the day before. The main event will feature four stages including a 15 lap closer around one of NASCAR's most popular race tracks. I think this move was long overdue and I hope that they continue with it in the future. Don't get me wrong, there isn't anything wrong with the race at Charlotte but I think a change of pace would be welcomed. I look forward to seeing how this turns out.

As we move on to Indy this weekend, the driver I have winning is Kurt Busch. This weekend will be the 2004 Cup Series champion's 700th career start, and he's won just about every race that there is to be won except this one here at the Brickyard. This week, that is going to change. It hasn't been the most consistent season for the Vegas native, but he still sits tenth in points and right in the thick of the playoff battle. This track isn't his best as he currently has a 19.42 average finish, including a dismal 30th place finish last year. But this week, I think he gets back on track with a victory as he starts second. The veteran has flown under the radar this year, but he has definitely shown spurts where we think he is going to break-out. He also has runs where it seems like him and his team are mid-pack, but there aren't many drivers out there that have the experience he has. And a talented driver like him always finds a way to bounce back. Look for Kurt Busch to take the #1 Monster Energy Camaro to victory lane.

All stats and information used in this article are brought to you by the good folks at driveraverages.com and Racing-Reference.com, the best websites for all NASCAR stats.

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