College Basketball Report: Week 16

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

UT basketball coach Shaka Smart
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 Bakeradded 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: Tuesdayvs. 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: Sundayvs. 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: Sundayvs. 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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Houston beat Purdue, 62-60. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Houston spent time this week practicing an inbound play that coach Kelvin Sampson thought his team might need against Purdue.

Milos Uzan, the third option, ran it to perfection.

He tossed the ball to Joseph Tugler, who threw a bounce pass right back to Uzan, and the 6-foot-4 guard soared to the rim for an uncontested layup with 0.9 seconds left, giving the top-seeded Cougars a 62-60 victory — and a matchup with second-seeded Tennessee in Sunday's Elite Eight.

“Great execution at a time we needed that,” said Sampson, who is a win away from making his third Final Four and his second with Houston in five years. “You never know when you’re going to need it.”

The Cougars (33-4) made only one other basket over the final eight minutes, wasted a 10-point lead and then missed two more shots in the final 5 seconds. A replay review with 2.2 seconds left confirmed Houston would keep the ball when it rolled out of bounds after the second miss.

Uzan took over from there.

“I was trying to hit (L.J. Cryer) and then JoJo just made a great read,” Uzan said. “He was able to draw two (defenders) and he just made a great play to hit me back.”

Houston advanced to the Elite Eight for the third time in five years after falling in the Sweet 16 as a top seed in the previous two editions of March Madness. It will take the nation's longest winning streak, 16 games, into Sunday’s Midwest Region final.

The Cougars joined the other three No. 1 seeds in this year's Elite Eight and did it at Lucas Oil Stadium, where their 2021 tourney run ended with a loss in the Final Four to eventual national champion Baylor.

They haven't lost since Feb. 1.

Uzan scored 22 points and Emanuel Sharp had 17 as Houston survived an off night from leading scorer Cryer, who finished with five points on 2-of-13 shooting.

Houston still had to sweat out a half-court heave at the buzzer, but Braden Smith's shot was well off the mark.

Fletcher Loyer scored 16 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had 14 and Smith, the Big Ten player of the year, added seven points and 15 assists for fourth-seeded Purdue (24-12). Smith assisted on all 11 second-half baskets for last year’s national runner-up, which played in front of a friendly crowd about an hour’s drive from its campus in West Lafayette.

“I thought we fought really hard and we dug down defensively to get those stops to come back,” Smith said. “We did everything we could and we just had a little miscommunication at the end and they converted. Props to them.”

Houston appeared on the verge of disaster when Kaufman-Renn scored on a dunk and then blocked Cryer’s shot with 1:17 to go, leading to Camden Heide’s 3 that tied the score at 60 with 35 seconds left.

Sampson called timeout to set up the final play, but Uzan missed a turnaround jumper and Tugler’s tip-in rolled off the rim and out of bounds. The Cougars got one more chance after the replay review.

Sharp's scoring flurry early in the second half finally gave Houston some separation after a back-and-forth first half. His 3-pointer at the 16:14 mark made it 40-32. After Purdue trimmed the deficit to four, Uzan made two 3s to give Houston a 10-point lead in a tough, physical game that set up a rare dramatic finish in this year's tourney.

“Smith was guarding the inbounder, so he had to take JoJo,” Sampson said. “That means there was no one there to take Milos. That's why you work on that stuff day after day.”

Takeaways

Purdue: Coach Matt Painter's Boilermakers stumbled into March Madness with six losses in their final nine games but proved themselves a worthy competitor by fighting their way into the Sweet 16 and nearly taking down a No. 1 seed.

Houston: The Cougars lead the nation in 3-point percentage and scoring defense, an enviable combination.

Scary fall

Houston guard Mylik Wilson gave the Cougars a brief scare with 13:23 left in the game. He leapt high into the air to grab a rebound and drew a foul on Kaufman-Renn.

As the play continued, Wilson was undercut and his body twisted around before he landed on his head. Wilson stayed down momentarily, rubbing his head, but eventually got up and remained in the game.

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