The final dress rehearsal before conference play begins for all college basketball teams.

College basketball report Week 8: Conference play looms

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TEXAS LONGHORNS (10-2)

Last week (1-0): W-HPU 89-58

This week: Saturdayvs. Baylor

The Texas Longhorns came away victorious in an 89-58 win over the High Point Panthers, Monday night, inside the Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center in Austin. Junior guard Jase Febres scored a game-high 16 points, as sophomore guard Andrew Jones added in 13 points and four assists in his first start following a battle with leukemia.

Winners of six of their last seven, the Longhorns will open their Big-12 schedule with a Texas Showdown against the Baylor Bears.

TEXAS A&M AGGIES (6-5)

Last week (1-0): W - Texas Southern 58-55

This week: Saturday vs. Arkansas

In a surprisingly competitive contest, the Texas A&M Aggies outlasted the Texas Southern Tigers in a three-point victory, Monday night, inside the Reed Arena in College Station. While recording 10 points, senior forward Josh Nebo was a dominant force in the middle for A&M as he tallied 15 rebounds and four blocks in the win.

After losing four straight, the Texas A&M Aggies will enter the SEC conference play riding a three-game winning streak ahead of their match against Arkansas on Saturday.

Houston Cougars (10-3)

Last week (1-0): W - Washington 75-71

This week: Friday vs. UCF

The Houston Cougars closed out the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a Christmas Day victory over No. 21 Washington Huskies Wednesday night. It was a come from behind win for the Cougars, as Houston trailed by 14 points early in the 1st half.

Behind a 19-point performance from both Caleb Mills and Fabian White Jr., UH went on to outscore the Huskies 44-35 in the second half to complete the comeback win.

With the upset over Washington, the Cougars won the mid-season Hawaiian tournament with White taking home Most Outstanding Player honors after averaging 14.6 points and 5.6 rebounds during the three-game tournament.

As they head back to Houston riding a four-game winning streak, the Cougars will open their American Athletic Conference play with a showdown against UCF on Friday.

RICE OWLS (8-5)

Last week (0-1): L - Sam Houston 75-61

This week: Thursday vs. Marshall, Saturday Western KY

The Rice Owls closed their non-conference schedule with a 75-61 loss to the Sam Houston State BearKats, Sunday afternoon inside the Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston. The Owls struggled out of the gate on the offensive end, and had no answer on the defensive end giving up 27 points (11-17 FG & 13 Rebs) to Kai Mitchell, Sam Houston's senior big man who scored a game-high in the win.

Following the loss, the Rice Owls will open their conference play against Marshall on Thursday, inside the Cam Henderson Center in West Virginia.

BAYLOR BEARS (10-1)

Last week (1-0): W - Jackson State 83-57

This week: Saturday vs. Texas

The sizzling No. 6 Baylor Bears continued their early-season success with an 83-57 win over the Jackson State Tigers, Monday night, in Waco. After coming out of the gates missing their first six shots, Baylor closed out the first half on a 32-6 run to take a 48-24 by halftime.

Four players scored in double figures for the Bears, as Jared Butler recorded 18 points while MaCio Teague finished the night with 16 points and Davion Mitchell had 14. Closing out their non-conference schedule on a nine-game win streak, the Baylor Bears will host the Texas Longhorns on Saturday to begin their conference play.

TCU HORNED FROGS (9-3)

Last week (1-0): W - George Mason 87-53

This week: Saturday vs Iowa

Desmond Bane proved to be too much for the George Mason Patriots to handle, as the senior guard scored a season-high 30 points in an 87-53 win for the TCU Horned Frogs. It was a wire-to-wire victory for TCU with Bane scoring 21 points in the first half shooting 5-for-7 from behind the arc.

Following the win, the Horned Frogs will open their Big-12 schedule on Saturday against Iowa State inside the Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth.

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (9-3)

Last week: (1-0) W - CSU Bakersfield 73-58

This week: Saturday vs. Oklahoma State

The Texans Tech Red Raiders won their fourth consecutive game in a convincing 73-58 victory over the California State Roadrunners on Sunday. As a whole, the Red Raiders stayed hot throughout the game, as Texas Tech shot 49.0% from the field, and a blazing 53% from behind the arc. Both Jahmi'us Ramsey and Kyler Edwards registered 20 points apiece, as the only players to score in double digits for Texas Tech.

Following the win, The Red Raiders will open their Big-12 Conference play against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Saturday, inside the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, TX.

SMU MUSTANGS (9-2)

Last week (0-0): No Games Scheduled

This week: Wednesday vs USF, Saturday Vanderbilt

With no games on the schedule, SMU will return to the floor on Wednesday, January 1st, for a New Year showdown against the University of South Florida Bulls.

LSU TIGERS (8-4)

Last week (1-0): W - Liberty 74-54

This week: Saturday vs Tennessee

Following back-to-back losses to East Tennessee and USC, the LSU Tigers closed out their none-conference games with a 74-57 win over the Liberty Flames on Sunday. Behind a 14-point performance from Darius Day shooting 54% from the floor, and a dozen coming from Skylar Mays, the Tigers handed Liberty their first loss of the season.

LSU will prepare to open the SEC play on Saturday in a match against the Tennessee Volunteers inside the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN.

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The Chiefs host the Texans this Saturday. Composite Getty Image.

The Houston Texans were trailing 6-0 and facing third-and-16 from their 17 late in the first half of their wild-card playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers when quarterback C.J. Stroud fumbled the snap.

The play looked to be heading for disaster. But instead, Stroud grabbed the ball and evaded the rush to find Xavier Hutchinson for a 34-yard gain.

The Texans went on to score a touchdown on that drive as the first of 23 straight points as they rallied for a 32-12 win.

They’ve advanced to the divisional round for a second straight season where they’ll face the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.

Coach DeMeco Ryans called Stroud salvaging that play the play of the game and raved about his second-year quarterback.

“That’s what it looks like when your best players step up and make the plays,” Ryans said. “That’s what playoff football is about. That’s what being a big-time player in the league is about.”

Even after he made the play, Stroud was unhappy because he fumbled the snap. But he felt much better when he looked to his sideline after the throw.

“And everybody was turned up, and that turned me up, because I was still kind of mad at myself,” he said. “Those are the type of plays that change momentum, and a team can rally around plays like that.”

Stroud threw for 282 yards with a touchdown pass to Nico Collins and an interception. He joined Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, the New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez, Seattle’s Russell Wilson and San Francisco’s Brock Purdy as quarterbacks to win playoff starts in each of their first two seasons.

Stroud also ran for 42 yards, highlighted by a career-long 27-yard run to help set up a field goal that put the Texans up 10-6 at halftime.

Stroud, who is not known for his scrambling ability joked about his “slow speed.”

He said the long run energized him.

“I felt my joy coming back after I got up, and it’s just one the best feelings in the world,” he said. “After you make a play, you’re just turned up and your teammates are turned up with you. That’s one of the best feelings in the world. I think that gave our team juice. I think me using my legs is definitely going to be helpful this postseason.”

Ryans was thrilled to see Stroud doing whatever he had to do to lift his team to the victory.

“That’s what you call (putting) the team on your back,” he said.

What’s working

The Texans intercepted Justin Herbert a career-high four times after he had thrown just three interceptions all season. All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley had two picks and Eric Murray returned one 38 yards for a touchdown. Rookie Kamari Lassiter had the other interception to join J.J. Watt as the only rookies in franchise history to have an interception in a playoff game.

Houston’s four interceptions are a franchise record for a playoff game and Murray’s interception return for a score was the fourth in the postseason in team history.

What needs help

For the Texans to have a chance against the Chiefs, they’ll have to take better care of the ball after committing three turnovers Saturday.

John Metchie fumbled after a catch on Houston’s first offensive play. Stroud threw an interception in the second quarter and Joe Mixon lost a fumble early in the third quarter.

Stock up

CB D’Angelo Ross was a special teams star Saturday. He blocked a punt in the first quarter before returning a blocked extra point for two points in the fourth.

The blocked punt was the first in a playoff game since the 2021 season and the PAT return was the first in NFL playoff history.

Stock down

LG Tytus Howard gave up a sack and had two penalties Saturday.

Injuries

The Texans didn’t have any injuries in Saturday’s game.

Key number

168 — Houston’s 168 yards rushing Saturday were the second most in a playoff game in franchise history behind the 188 the team gained in its first-ever postseason game in 2012. Mixon led the way with 106 yards for his eighth 100-yard game this season.

Up next

The Texans play in the divisional round for the sixth time in franchise history where a win will earn them their first trip to the AFC championship game.

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