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.
3οΈβ£1οΈβ£ point dub. ππ #AllForTexas | #HookEm https://t.co/AaWiCvYeNOβ Texas Men's Basketball (@Texas Men's Basketball) 1577764817.0
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.
ON HIS HEAD!!! π€ @_JayChandler | #GigEm https://t.co/HWahiEq8s7β 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 vsβ¦ https://t.co/bwRoBBmMxUβ Houston Men's Hoops π πΎ (@Houston Men's Hoops π πΎ) 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. #GoOwlsπ x #TheRiceWay https://t.co/8ZGqmIwZUCβ 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 βοΈ months of the season in the π #SicEm π» | #1TGF π https://t.co/un2L39uW9qβ 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 8β£7β£-5β£3β£ victory over George Mason. π½οΈβ€΅οΈ #GoFrogs https://t.co/XDTBFSYj69β 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. π΄#4To1 | #WreckEmβ«οΈ https://t.co/jctwnmcBKZβ 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 π in Moody! π | USF // 4 p.m. π» l ESPNU π» | 770 AM // @tunein βΉοΈ | https://t.co/xusxtkfxFO π« |β¦ https://t.co/j9rk88EPpxβ 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 π― π https://t.co/H7L371ImdC https://t.co/uLaDGzj3Q7β 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 Astros were a season low 12 games under .500 (12-24) on May 8th but were able to turn things around and entered the All-Star break with a respectable 50-46 record.
The turnaround can be attributed to better performances on the field by a multitude of players, but there are still things that could be improved to ensure a successful second half of the season.
As it currently stands, Houston is only one game behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West division race, and the Astros should have key players returning from injury to further bolster their playoff ambitions.
The return of the King
Kyle Tucker has been on the injured list with a shin contusion for six weeks now, and looks to return in the near future.
The Astros have done surprisingly well without their three-time All-Star outfielder thanks to contributions from guys like Joey Loperfido, Jake Meyers and Marcio Dubon in the outfield. Plus, Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Yanier Diaz and Jeremy Pena carrying the offense while King Tuck is away.
Before getting hurt, the 27-year-old was hitting .266/.395/.584 through 60 games. Houston already has one of the best offenses in baseball, and adding Tucker back would give the Astros another high-quality bat to further bolster their lineup.
The latest update is Tucker has been playing catch and could start a rehab assignment soon if all goes well.
Fix the rotation
Starting pitching has been a major issue this season due to a multitude of injuries.
Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and J.P. France have all been lost for the year with various surgeries and guys like Justin Verlander and Luis Garcia are trying to work their way back from their injured list stints.
Garcia was recently pulled from his rehab assignment and wonβt pitch again until he is ready. Meanwhile, Verlander could be closer to his return and is throwing bullpen sessions as of July 14. Getting both of these pitchers back at some point this season will be a huge boost to this roster.
The current Astrosβ rotation consists of Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss. Although not a bad rotation by any means, the starting pitching depth is getting pretty thin and Houston can ill afford another injury to their staff.
Astros general manager Dana Brown has been vocal about his desire to add starting pitching, and could have some options heading into the trade deadline. Players like Jack Flaherty, Garrett Crochet or Yusei Kikuchi, just to name a few, could be low risk high reward pitchers the Astros could acquire to add depth to their rotation.
Another option would be to call up A.J. Blubaugh from Sugar Land. The 24-year-old has a 6-2 record with a 3.46 ERA in 71.1 innings pitched this season for the Space Cowboys and could be a necessary depth piece to add to the rotation.
Play Astros baseball
The Astros have been playing better baseball as of late and have won 18 of their last 23 games. With players like Kyle Tucker and Justin Verlander potentially returning soon, there is reason to believe Houston can make the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season.
The 'Stros will try to take sole possession of first place in their division from the Mariners when the two teams meet for three games at T-Mobile Park starting on Friday night.