College Basketball Report: Week 17

The Houston Cougars reclaim their place atop of the American Athletic Conference

Coty Davis
Mar 3, 2020, 7:31 am
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TEXAS LONGHORNS (18-11), (8-8)

Last week: (1-0): W - Texas Tech 68-58

This week: Tuesday vs. Oklahoma, Saturday Oklahoma State

On Saturday, the Texas Longhorns came away victorious in a 68-58 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders inside United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock. Andrew Jones tied his career-high in the win, as the sophomore guard recorded 22 points 57.1% from the field.

Up next, the Longhorns will travel to Oklahoma to take on the Sooners before welcoming the Cowboys to Austin on Saturday.

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

Last week: (0-2): L - Kentucky 69-60, L - LSU 64-50

This week: Wednesday vs. Auburn, Saturday vs. Arkansas

After winning three straight, the Texas A&M Aggies are riding a two-game losing streak after dropping games against No. 6 Kentucky (69-60) and LSU (64-50). In both games, junior guard Savion Flagg led the way averaging 17.0 points, while Josh Nebo recorded 11.5 points and 7.5 boards.

After a disappointing week, the Aggies will look to end their losing streak ahead of the Conference Tournament on Wednesday against the Auburn Tigers.

Houston Cougars (27-7), (12-4)

Last week: (1-0): W- Cincinnati 68-55

This week: Thursday vs. UConn, Sunday Memphis

The Houston Cougars reclaimed their spot atop of the American Atheltic Conference with a 68-55 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats inside the Frittata Center in Houston. Despite a subpar shooting night as a team, Marcus Sasser led the way with a game-high 21 points in 33 minutes, as the sharpshooting guard recorded a dozen in the final period shooting 8-for-16 (50%) from the field, 5-for-12 (41.6%) from 3-point range.

Ahead of closing out the season in a home match against Memphis on Sunday, the Cougars will travel to Connecticut to take on the 17-12, 8-8 UConn Huskies, Thursday, inside the Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.

RICE OWLS (14-15), (6-10)

Last week: (1-0): W- Middle Tennessee 77-66

This week: Wednesday vs. Southern Miss, Saturday UTEP

The Rice Owls closed out their regular-season series against Middle Tennesse Blue Raiders with a 77-66 win on Sunday. Trey Murphy III fell two rebounds short of recording a double-double with 17 points (8-14, 4-9 3PT) and eight boards in the win.

After trailing 29-24 at the half to the Blue Raiders, the Owls went on a tear in the second half. Rice shot a sizzling 64.2% from the field, 55.5% from behind the arc, as the scored a season-high 53 second-half points. Following the win, the Owls will take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Wednesday.

BAYLOR BEARS (26-3), (15-2) 

Last week: (1-1): W - Kansas State 85-66, L - TCU 75-72, W - Texas Tech 71-68 OT

This week: Saturday vs. West Virginia

After ending their 23-game winning streak to Kansas, the Baylor Bears dropped their second conference game of the season in a 75-72 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs.

Despite holding a seven-point lead at the half, the Bears' defense became a no show in the final 24 minutes, as Baylor allowed the Horned Frogs to score 54 points on 76.1% shooting from the floor, 63.4% from the deep.
Following a win over Texas Tech on Monday, the Bears will look to close out their regular season schedule in a road game against West Virginia.

TCU Horned Frogs (16-13), (7-9)

Last week: (1-1): L - Iowa State 65-59, W - Baylor 75-72

This week: Wednesday vs. Kansas, Saturday vs. Oklahoma

After a tough loss against the Iowa State Cyclone on Tuesday, the TCU Horned Frogs picked up their most impressive victory of the season against No. 4 Baylor Bears.

Behind a 23-point performance from senior Desmond Bane, TCU outscored Baylor 54-44 in the second half while shooting 76.1% from the floor, 63.4% from the deep. Up next, the Horned Frogs will look to end their Big 12 conference schedule on a high against the Kansas Jayhawks on Wednesday, and the Oklahoma Sooners.

Texas Tech Red Raiders (18-12), (9-8)

Last week: (0-0): L- Oklahoma 65-51, L - Texas 68-58, L - Baylor 71-68 OT

This week: Saturday vs. Kansas

Despite experiencing their worst stretch of the season, the Texas Tech Red Raiders nearly pulled an upset over the No. 4 Baylor Bears on Monday. Behind freshmen guards, Jahml'us Ramsey (13) and Kevin McCullar (13), Texas Tech ended the night shooting 50% from the floor inside the Ferrell Center in Waco.

Although they had a solid night from the field, the Red Raiders could not stop Baylor from scoring from the outside, as the Bears connected on 10 3-point field goals on 42% shooting from deep.

Up next, Texas Tech will look to get back to their winning ways on Saturday against the Kansas Jayhawks to close out their 2019-20 college basketball season.

SMU Mustangs (19-9), (9-7)

Last week: (2-1): W- Memphis 58-53, L - Wichita State 66-62

This week: Wednesday vs. UCF, Saturday vs. USF

Before falling to Wichita State on Sunday, the SMU Mustangs took a 58-53 victory over the Memphis Tigers on Tuesday. Junior forward Tyson Jolly recorded a double-double of 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, as SMU forced 21 turnovers in which they converted into 20 points.

Following the win, the Mustangs will travel to Orlando to take on the UCF Bulls on Wednesday.

LSU Tigers (20-9), (11-5)

​Last week: (1-1): L - Florida 81-66, W - Texas A&M 64-50

This week: Wednesday vs. Arkansas, Saturday vs. Georgia

After a 15 point loss to Florida, the LSU Tigers picked up a 64-50 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday. In the win, it was a great all-round performance from Skylar Mays, as the senior guard recorded 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting with four treys, to go with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Up next, the Tigers will look to end their regular-season conference schedule on Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs.

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Houston loses to end the road trip

Dodgers get best of Odorizzi to split series with Astros

Jake Odorizzi allowed four home runs over three innings against the Dodgers on Wednesday. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.

After spoiling the night of many Dodgers fans in the opener of this two-game series in Los Angeles the night prior, the Astros returned to the stadium to a fresh set of hostile fans, looking to get the mini-sweep. This one went much more in favor of the home team, though, as the Dodgers would ride three big innings to start the game to the win for the series split.

Final Score: Dodgers 7, Astros 5

Astros' Record: 65-43, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Max Scherzer (9-4)

Losing Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi (4-6)

Odorizzi gets shelled

After a Michael Brantley solo home in the top of the first run against Max Scherzer, making his Dodger debut, it looked like the Astros may continue their momentum from the night before to grab hold of this game as well. However, that all changed in the bottom of the inning, as the Dodgers would tee off against Jake Odorizzi.

In that inning, he allowed four runs, a leadoff solo shot by Mookie Betts, then later a three-run blast by Will Smith. Betts made it 2-for-2 with solo homers in the bottom of the second, extending the lead to 5-1. Things went from bad to worse in the third, with Los Angeles getting their fourth home run, this one for two runs to make it a 7-1 game. Odorizzi would finish the third but go no further.

Scherzer K's 10 over seven innings in his Dodger debut

Houston tried to start clawing back into it in the top of the fourth, getting a second run against Scherzer with a two-out RBI-single by Kyle Tucker, trimming the lead to five runs at 5-2. First out of Houston's bullpen was Yimi Garcia in the bottom of the fourth, and he tossed the first 1-2-3 inning for Houston. Rafael Montero was next in the bottom of the fifth, working around a leadoff double followed by a walk for a scoreless inning.

Montero remained in the game in the bottom of the sixth, still 7-2, and would get another scoreless inning, this time sitting down the Dodgers in order. Scherzer finished his quality debut for his new team in the top of the seventh, erasing a leadoff walk to complete seven innings while allowing two runs.

Astros lose to split the series with Dodgers

Brooks Raley was Houston's next reliever, and he, too, would get through a scoreless inning by erasing a two-out single. In the game-within-the-game, the Dodgers brought in Joe Kelly for the top of the eighth, who notched two strikeouts to bring none other than Carlos Correa to the plate, setting up a rematch of the well-known incident that led to the "pouty face" clip from 2020. Carlos Correa won this round, launching a 405-foot homer off of Kelly to make it a four-run game at 7-3.

Phil Maton kept the score there, stranding two runners in the bottom of the eighth to send the 7-3 game to the top of the ninth, where the Dodgers would bring in Kenley Jansen. After a leadoff single, Kyle Tucker would get the Astros within two runs on a two-run homer, making it 7-5. That's as close as they would get, as Jansen would regroup to get the next three batters out to wrap up the loss for Houston.

Up Next: With this road trip completed, the Astros will have a quick turnaround as they catch a late flight back to Houston then turn around with a game Thursday at 7:10 PM Central to open a four-game series with the Twins. Framber Valdez (7-2, 3.01 ERA) will take the mound for Houston in the opener, while Minnesota will counter with Griffin Jax (1-1, 6.41 ERA).

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