College Basketball Report: Week 5

The Baylor Bears extend their winning streak to six, while the Texas A&M Aggies continue losing after a 10-point defeat to Texas

The Baylor Bears extend their winning streak to six, while the Texas A&M Aggies continue losing after a 10-point defeat to Texas
Are Buzz Williams and the Aggies No. 1?

TEXAS LONGHORNS (8-1)

Last week (2-0): W - UAB 67-57, W - Texas A&M 60-50

This week: Saturdayvs. Central Michigan

The Texas Longhorns continued their success with a perfect 2-0 record last week with wins against the University of Alabama at Birmingham (67-57) and Texas A&M (60-50). They won both games by a 10 point margin, with second-year guard, Andrew Jones, leading the way averaging 16.0 points on 52% shooting from the field, 57.1% shooting on made 3-point field goals.

In the midst of riding a four-game win streak, the Longhorns will return to the court on Saturday for a match against Central Michigan, inside the Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center in Austin.

TEXAS A&M AGGIES (3-5)

Last week (0-1): L - Texas 60-50

This week: Sunday vs. A&M-Corpus Christi

Following a rough outing at the Orlando Invitational, the Texas A&M Aggies dropped their fourth consecutive game in a 60-50 loss to the Longhorns on Sunday. In the loss, A&M struggled to buy a basket from behind the arc as they shot 3-for-11 (27.3 %) in the game.

Buzz Williams and the Aggies will look to right the ship in a home match against the A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Sunday.

HOUSTON COUGARS (5-2)

Last week (2-0): W - Texas State 68-60, South Carolina 76-56

This week: Wednesday vs. UT Arlington, Sunday Oklahoma State

The Houston Cougars has been on a roll as of late with back-to-back wins against the Texas State Bobcats (68-60) and the South Carolina Gamecocks (76-56). Quentin Grimes is on his way to his second AAC Player of the Week honor, after averaging 22.5 points on 44.1% shooting from the field and a sizzling 42.8% from deep.

After the win, the Cougars will return to Houston for a two-game homestand against UT Arlington on Wednesday and Oklahoma State on Sunday.

RICE OWLS (6-4)

Last week (1-0): L - Lamar 73-60

This week: Saturday vs. Houston Baptist

Senior guard Ako Adams and sophomore forward Drew Peterson scored a combined 34 points on Saturday, but was unable to come away victorious in a 73-60 loss to the Lamar Cardinals. The Owls had no answer for the Cardinals inside presence, as Lamar outscored Rice 32-12 in points in the paint.

Following the loss, the Rice Owls will look to get back to their winning ways on Saturday, in a home against the winless (0-7) Houston Baptist Huskies.

BAYLOR BEARS (7-1)

Last week (2-0): W - Maryland-Eastern 78-46, W - Arizona Wildcats 63-58

This week: Tuesday vs. Butler

The sizzling continued their early-season success with wins against the Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks (78-46) and the Arizona Wildcats (63-58). Their defensive presence played an immense role in the Bears' success last week, as they held the Shore Hawks and the Wildcats to a combined 26.7% shooting from the floor, 18.7% from deep, to go along with a total of 31 made field goals

Win the win, Baylor has extended their winning streak to six, ahead of their home match against the Butler Bulldogs on Tuesday.

TCU HORNED FROGS (6-2)

Last week (1-1): W - Illinois State 81-69, L - USC 80-78

This week: Wednesday vs Winthrop, Saturday vs Lamar

The TCU Men's Basketball team split their two games last week starting with an 81-69 victory over Illinois State. The Horned Frogs dropped their second game of the week in a two-point defeat to the USC Trojans. Behind a 17 point and 11 rebounds performance by forward Kevin Samuel, TCU nearly pulled off an incredible comeback after trailing by 18 early in the second half.

TCU will return to action on Wednesday to face off against Winthrop and Lamar on Saturday.

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (5-3)

Last week: (0-1) L - Depaul 65-60

This week: Tuesday vs. Louisville, Monday vs. Southern Mississippi

Following a 5-0 start to the season, the Texas Tech Raiders are in a three-game skid following a 65-60 overtime loss to Depaul last Wednesday. The Red Raiders held a four-point led over the Blue Demons before Jalen Coleman-Lands took over late for Depaul with a clutch 3-point basket and free throws to ice the game.

Freshman guard, Terrence Shannon, Jr. scored a career-high 24 points on 9-for-18 (50%) shooting to go along with eight rebounds in the loss. Texas Tech will look to end their three-game losing streak on Tuesday against the Louisville Cardinals before taking on Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.

SMU MUSTANGS (8-1)

Last week (1-1): W - Northwestern State 77-51, L - Georgetown 91-74

This week: No Games Scheduled

After starting the season with a perfect 8-0 record in a win over Northwestern State (77-51), The SMU Mustangs dropped their first game on the year in a 91-74 loss to the Georgetown Hoyas. Georgetown proved to have too much firepower for the Mustangs with four players scoring in double figures for the Hoyas. With no games on the schedule, SMU will return to the floor on Tuesday, December 20th against the Georgia Bulldogs

LSU TIGERS (7-2)

Last week (2-0): W - New Orleans 90-54, W - Northwestern State 109-59

This week: Wednesday vs East Tennessee St.

The LSU Tigers proved to be too much for their competition-winning by an average margin of 43 points with wins over New Orleans (90-54) and Northwestern State (109-59). LSU will look to extend their winning streak to five on Wednesday in a home match against the East Tennessee St. The Tigers will continue their four-game homestand on Tuesday against New Orleans and Northwestern State on Sunday.

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
The Vikings host the Texans this Sunday. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Though they have plenty of work to do, the Houston Texans are feeling good about their 2-0 start after dropping their first two games last season.

The Texans scored just three points after halftime Sunday night, but a smothering defensive performance allowed them to hold on for a 19-13 win over the Bears. The victory has them in early control in the AFC South after the Colts, Titans and Jaguars have all opened the season 0-2.

It’s the first time since 2016 that Houston has won its first two games.

“I definitely know that Texans football was not what we put on the field (Sunday), at least in the second half,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “We’ll definitely be better, for sure."

Stroud threw for 260 yards and a touchdown, but the Texans punted on five of their seven possessions in the second half and fumbled on another drive. Their only points after halftime came on a field goal early in the fourth quarter.

“Second half we were just flat,” Stroud said. “Just needed a big play or just needed (to) stack plays really. We just couldn’t find our rhythm.”

One thing that slowed the Texans on Sunday was their inability to run the ball effectively. Houston managed just 75 yards rushing against the Bears after leading the NFL with 213 yards in Week 1.

“They had a lot of penetration,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We weren’t able to have the lanes that we had the previous weeks. Something we have to clean up on the offensive side and make sure we just continue to get a head on the hat no matter what they show us.”

The running game was slowed because of an ankle injury to Joe Mixon, who had 159 yards rushing in the opener. He was injured early in the third quarter and returned near the end of the period, but had just two carries for 5 yards the rest of the game as he dealt with the injury. He finished with nine carries for 25 yards.

Ryans said that Mixon got “rolled up” and that it’s too early to know if he’ll play next week.

What’s working

The Texans were relentless in their pressure on rookie quarterback Caleb Williams Sunday night. Houston pressured Williams, the top overall pick in the draft, on 36 of his 37 pass attempts, according to NextGenStats.

Defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter combined for 17 pressures and the Texans piled up seven sacks, which is tied for the second most in franchise history.

Houston had six different players with a sack Sunday night and the team’s nine sacks through two games ranks second in the NFL behind Minnesota’s 11 entering Monday.

What needs help

The Texans must get their running game back on track next week, which will be a tough task if Mixon can’t play. They could be without their top two running backs Sunday with Dameon Pierce dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him out of the game against Chicago.

Stock up

K Ka′imi Fairbairn has been great this season, with Ryans crediting him for Sunday night’s win. He was 4-for-4 against the Bears, making kicks of 59, 56, 53 and 47 yards. He also made three field goals of 50-plus yards in Week 1 to become the first kicker in NFL history to make five or more field goals of 50 yards or longer in a two-game span.

His 59-yard field goal on Sunday night was the second-longest in franchise history behind a 61-yard kick he made in 2021.

“He’s been consistent,” Ryans said. “He’s on it. He’s the reason why we’re standing here. We talk a lot about offense and defense (but) the kicking game is the reason why we won this game.”

Stock down

RB Cam Akers. Pushed into action because of injuries, Akers fumbled on the Chicago 4 with about 6½ minutes left Sunday. The Bears recovered the ball and it led to a field goal that got them within a score with less than three minutes left.

Injuries

Mixon and Pierce are the main injuries the team is dealing with this week.

Key number

252 — Entering Monday, wide receiver Nico Collins leads the NFL with 252 yards receiving, which is the second most in franchise history in the first two games of a season. Collins, who had a career-high 1,297 yards receiving last season, had 135 yards receiving and a touchdown Sunday night for the seventh 100-yard game of his career.

Next steps

Stroud and Houston’s offense will look to clean up their play and move the ball more effectively when they face an early test in a visit to the Minnesota Vikings, who are also 2-0, on Sunday.

cj strouddemeco ryanshouston texansjoe mixonnfltexanswill anderson jr

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome