College Basketball report: week 4
The Texas A&M Aggies embark on a three-game losing streak while the SMU Mustangs bring home the Southwestern Showdown championship
Dec 3, 2019, 8:55 am
College Basketball report: week 4
10 assists. 0 turnovers. @mattcoleman2_ is a playmaker. 😤 #AllForTexas | #HookEm https://t.co/LBYiWvNlER— Texas Basketball (@Texas Basketball) 1575311681.0
Last week (1-0): W: McNeese State 73-71
This week: Tuesdayvs. UAB, Sunday Texas A&M
The Texas Longhorns improved to 4-0 at the Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center with a 73-71 victory over the McNeese State Cowboys on Saturday. In a surprising turn of events, it took a pair of free throws by Courtney Ramey to seal the deal for Texas, as the sophomore guard recorded 14 points in the win.
Texas' guard, Andrew Jones, also registered 14 points off the bench while shooting 6-for-14 (42.8%) from the field. Following the win, the Longhorns will take on the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Tuesday, before opening up their Lone Star Showdown against Texas A&M on Sunday.
Fighting. The NCAA's active leader in blocks adds another to his total. 15:24 2H | 35-32 us #GigEm https://t.co/sReXiuit64— Texas A&M Basketball (@Texas A&M Basketball) 1575218691.0
Last week (0-3): L: Harvard 62-51, L: Temple 65-42, L: Fairfield 67-62
This week: Sunday vs. Texas
The Orlando Invitational did not go as planned for the Texas A&M Aggies over the past week. A&M finished the tournament in last place after dropping all three games, which began with a 62-51 loss to the Harvard Crimson.
After suffering through a 23-point defeat to Temple —where only one player (Josh Nebo, 12) scored in double figures — the Aggies ended the tournament with a 67-62 loss to Fairfield. While riding a three-game losing streak and sitting under .500 on the season, the Aggies will look to bounce back against the Texas Longhorns on Sunday.
.@thatup_coming11 named to @American_MBB Honor Roll after performance vs HBU 2️⃣4️⃣ pts 1️⃣5️⃣ rebs 3️⃣ asts 0️⃣ T… https://t.co/1LbAMMY6jY— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾) 1575318727.0
Last week (1-0): W: Houston Baptist 112-73
This week: Wednesday vs. Texas State, Sunday South Carolina
The Houston Cougars took a 39-point victory over the Houston Baptist Huskies in a game that was over within the first five minutes. Sophomore Nate Hinton recorded a career-high 24 points (6-11 FG, 3-4 3PT) and 15 rebounds in the blowout win. Marcus Sasser also recorded a career-high with 18 points, as the sharpshooting freshman from Red Oak, Texas shot 6-for-9 (66%) from 3-point range.
Following the win, the Cougars will look to make it two straight on Wednesday when they take on the Texas State Bobcats, before traveling to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks.
Came back from the Bahamas with a surprise waiting for us 🤩 #GoOwls👐 x #TheRiceWay https://t.co/t5d16iAGvF— Rice Basketball (@Rice Basketball) 1574796325.0
Last week (0-0): No Games Scheduled
This week: Saturday vs. Lamar
The Rice Men's Basketball program had a peaceful Thanksgiving break with no game on the schedule. The Owls will look to end their two-game losing streak on Saturday against the Lamar Cardinals inside the Montagne Center in Beaumont.
⛹️♂️💨 Fast Break: Vol. 4 Thankful for 🏆 memories from the @MyrtleInvite 🙏 #SicEm 🐻 | #1TGF 🏀 https://t.co/4ph0wiGm3k— Baylor Basketball (@Baylor Basketball) 1574905186.0
Last week (0-0): No Games Scheduled
This week: Tuesday vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks, Saturday vs. Arizona Wildcats
While riding a four-game win streak, the Baylor Bears will return to the court on Tuesday to take on the Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks, and the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday inside the Ferrell Center in Waco.
Funky Films | vs. Wyoming #GoFrogs 😈🎥 https://t.co/0GURF7MAuU— TCU Basketball (@TCU Basketball) 1574899705.0
Last week (1-0): W: Wyoming 64-47
This week: Tuesday vs Illinois State, Friday USC
The TCU Men's Basketball team closed their MGM Resorts Main Event showcase with a 64-47 victory over the Wyoming Cowboys. Although TCU shot 42.4% from the floor, their play on the defensive end played a tremendous factor in the Horned Frogs' victory. They held the Cowboys to 14 points in the first half while shooting 17.8% from the field, 18% from behind the arc. Desmon Bane recorded his second consecutive double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
After going 1-1 during their MGM Resorts Main Event exhibition, the Horned Frogs will return to Fort Worth for a showdown against the Illinois State Redbirds on Tuesday, and USC on Friday.
🔴OVERTIME⚫️ Down 14 at halftime, Texas Tech fights back to force overtime with the game tied at 74 after regulatio… https://t.co/dbxzSvhrSY— Texas Tech Basketball (@Texas Tech Basketball) 1575091763.0
Last week: (0-2) L: Iowa 72-61, L: Creighton 83-76
This week: Wednesday vs. Depaul
Following a 5-0 start to the season, the Texas Tech Red Raiders are riding a two-game skid after going winless during the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. The Red Raiders dropped their first contest of the first round in a 72-61 loss to Iowa. Following the loss, the Red Raiders endured a tough defeat to the Creighton Bluejays.
After trailing by 14-points at the half, Texas Tech outscored the Bluejays 42-28 in the second period to force overtime en route to an 83-76 loss. Texas Tech had no answer for Marcus Zegarowski, who scored a game-high 32 points (12-18 FG, 3-8 3PT) in a win for Creighton. Up next, Texas Tech will travel to Chicago to play DePaul (8-0) inside the Wintrust Arena on Wednesday.
.@150__KD throwing lobs on his way to 1️⃣0️⃣ assists 👀 This time @feronhunt11 on the receiving end! Last night was… https://t.co/1CIMV2SXA4— SMU Basketball (@SMU Basketball) 1575144660.0
Last week (2-0): W: Hartford 90-58, W: Abilene Christian 70-51
This week: Tuesday vs. Northwestern State, Saturday vs Georgetown
The wins keep coming for the SMU Mustangs who are currently riding a seven-game win streak. The Mustangs breezed to the Southwestern Showdown title with back-to-back blowout victories over Hartford (90-58) and Abilene Christian (70-51). After averaging 18 points and 7.3 assists, Kendric Davis took home tournament MVP honors, while Tyson Jolly and Feron Hunt join Davis on the All-Tournament team.
The Mustangs will return to Dallas as champions for a two-game homestand on Tuesday, to take on Northwestern State, and Georgetown on Saturday.
The Tigers improved to 5-2 after defeating Missouri State, 73-58, on Friday night! 📄 https://t.co/QNUQZKQqLv https://t.co/dBldx8bWE2— LSU Basketball (@LSU Basketball) 1575131243.0
Last week (1-0): W: Missouri St. 73-58
This week: Tuesday vs New Orleans, Sunday vs Northwestern State
The LSU Tigers put on a shooting client on Friday in their 73-58 win over the Missouri St. They shot 53.7% from the field, and most of their damage came on the inside as LSU scored 34 points in the paint. Forward Darius Day helped the Tigers come away victorious with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
The Tigers will continue their four-game homestand on Tuesday against New Orleans and Northwestern State on Sunday.
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!
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