The final dress rehearsal before conference play begins for all college basketball teams.
College basketball report Week 8: Conference play looms
Dec 31, 2019, 7:45 am
The final dress rehearsal before conference play begins for all college basketball teams.
3️⃣1️⃣ point dub. 👏👏 #AllForTexas | #HookEm https://t.co/AaWiCvYeNO— Texas Men's Basketball (@Texas Men's Basketball) 1577764817.0
Last week (1-0): W-HPU 89-58
This week: Saturday vs. 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.
ON HIS HEAD!!! 🤕 @_JayChandler | #GigEm https://t.co/HWahiEq8s7— Texas A&M Basketball (@Texas A&M Basketball) 1577763967.0
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.
Back to work today... With some new hardware in Guy V Lewis Development Facility Coogs open @American_MBB play vs… https://t.co/bwRoBBmMxU— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾) 1577567105.0
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 falls to Sam Houston State, 75-61. #GoOwls👐 x #TheRiceWay https://t.co/8ZGqmIwZUC— Rice Basketball (@Rice Basketball) 1577655782.0
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.
First ✌️ months of the season in the 📚 #SicEm 🐻 | #1TGF 🏀 https://t.co/un2L39uW9q— Baylor Basketball (@Baylor Basketball) 1577758980.0
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.
A look back at our 8⃣7⃣-5⃣3⃣ victory over George Mason. 📽️⤵️ #GoFrogs https://t.co/XDTBFSYj69— TCU Basketball (@TCU Basketball) 1577767019.0
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.
Protected our house. On to the next fight. 🔴#4To1 | #WreckEm⚫️ https://t.co/jctwnmcBKZ— Texas Tech Basketball (@Texas Tech Basketball) 1577752623.0
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.
New Year's Day 🏀 in Moody! 🆚 | USF // 4 p.m. 💻 l ESPNU 📻 | 770 AM // @tunein ℹ️ | https://t.co/xusxtkfxFO 🎫 |… https://t.co/j9rk88EPpx— SMU Basketball (@SMU Basketball) 1577568840.0
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 handed Liberty its first loss of the season on Sunday! #BootUp 🐯 📄 https://t.co/H7L371ImdC https://t.co/uLaDGzj3Q7— LSU Basketball (@LSU Basketball) 1577660502.0
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.
The Houston Astros open a three-game set Tuesday night against the struggling Colorado Rockies, with Hunter Brown set to take the mound at Daikin Park.
Houston (72-59) enters the matchup atop the AL West despite dropping six of its last 10 games, during which the offense has sputtered to a .204 average and the pitching staff has been tagged for a 5.69 ERA. The Astros will look to steady things at home, where they’ve gone 38-27 this season, and lean on Brown, who has been one of their most consistent arms. The right-hander owns a 10-5 record, a 2.36 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 2025.
Colorado (37-94) comes in losers of four straight and carrying the worst road record in baseball at 16-49. The Rockies have struggled mightily to contain the long ball, going 17-77 in games when allowing at least one home run. Starter Tanner Gordon (4-5, 7.11 ERA) will try to buck that trend in just his 10th appearance of the season.
Yordan Alvarez will make his long-awaited return to the lineup Tuesday, starting in left field for the opener against Colorado. It will be his first game action since May 2 after being sidelined with a hand injury.
Jose Altuve continues to lead the Astros’ offense with 22 home runs and a .456 slugging percentage, while Carlos Correa has been one of Houston’s most reliable bats of late, collecting 13 hits in his last 39 at-bats. On the Rockies’ side, Hunter Goodman has piled up 52 extra-base hits this season, and Brenton Doyle enters the series swinging a hot bat with 15 hits and 11 RBIs over his past 10 games.
The matchup is the fourth meeting between the two clubs this year, with Houston heavily favored to pick up another win as it looks to build momentum in the stretch run.
Betting odds
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -341, Rockies +270; over/under is 8 runs
Roster moves
RHP Shawn Dubin has been claimed by the Orioles.
pic.twitter.com/Mte5EPYUCq
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 26, 2025
Starting lineup
What stands out? With Yordan back in the lineup, manager Joe Espada has decided to deploy him in the cleanup spot, leaving the Top 3 of Pena, Correa, and Altuve (DH) unchanged.
A surprising twist
However, Alvarez playing left field is not something we were expecting.
Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.
With Yordan hitting fourth, Christian Waker slides back to the five spot, followed by Jesus Sanchez (RF), Victor Caratini (C), Mauricio Dubon (2B), and Jacob Melton (CF).
Interesting to see Yainer Diaz with the night off. He was hit in the wrist by a pitch from Craig Kimbrel on Sunday. Perhaps he needed an extra day to recover.
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