The Baylor Bears won their respective tournament, and the Texas Tech Red Raiders look to stay perfect to start the season

College Basketball Report: Week 3

UT basketball coach Shaka Smart
Shaka Smart and Texas are fading fast. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

TEXAS LONGHORNS (5-1)

Last week (1-1): L: Georgetown 82-66, W: California 62-45

This week: Saturday vs. McNeese State

The Longhorns continued their tour of the 2K Empire Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project with an 82-66 loss to the Georgetown Hoyas. The 16-point defeat snapped Texas' four-game win streak to open the new season. After allowing the Hoyas to shoot 50.9% from the field, 45.5% from deep, the Longhorns picked up their defense in a win against the California Golden bears, where Cal shot 34.6% from the floor, 20.0% from 3-point range. Following a week in the Big Apple, the Longhorns will return to Austin on Saturday to face off against the McNeese State Cowboys.

TEXAS A&M AGGIES (3-1)

Last week (1-0): W: Troy 56-52

This week: Thursday vs. Harvard

After trailing 25-17 in the first half, the Aggies outscored the Trojans 39-27 in the second half, while shooting 44.4% from the field and forced 10 second-half turnovers to complete a 56-52 victory over Troy Wednesday night. Texas A&M was led by walk-on guard Mark French, who recorded a career-high 12 points in the win. Up next, the Aggies will open their Orlando Invitational on Thursday in a match against the Harvard Crimson.

HOUSTON COUGARS (2-2)

Last week (1-1): W: Rice 97-89, L: Oregon 78-66

This week: Tuesday vs. Houston Baptist

After a heartbreaking loss to BYU, the Houston Cougars opened the week with a tremendous comeback win over their crosstown rival, the Rice Owls. The Cougars trailed by 15-point late in the first half before closing the period on a 13-5 run. To complete their second-half surge, Houston ignited for a 21-1 run late in the second half, which led to a 97-89 victory. Sophomore guard Quentin Grimes scored a career-high 32 points in the win, 21 coming in the second half.

Following the win, the Cougars could not capitalize on the momentum gained, as Houston fell to the No. 11 Oregon Ducks, in a game where they shot 10% from deep in the loss. Next week, the Cougars will return to the Fertitta Center on Tuesday to take on Houston Baptist Huskies.

RICE OWLS (6-3)

Last week (2-2): L: Houston (97-89), W: Milwaukee (75-69), L: Liberty ( 71-59), W: East Carolina (77-69)

This week: None

The Owls week got off to a rocky start after blowing a 15-point lead to the Houston Cougars. They then traveled to the Bahamas to take part in the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase, where the Owls picked up wins against the Milwaukee Panthers (75-69) and the East Carolina Pirates (77-69). In both games, senior guard, Ako Adams, stepped up big averaging 17.0 points on 53.3% shooting on 3-point field goals. However, by picking up a loss Saturday against the Liberty Flames (71-59), the Owls ended the tournament finishing in third place.

BAYLOR BEARS (5-1)

Last week (3-0): W: Ohio Bobcats (76-53), W: Coastal Carolina (77-65), W: Villanova (87-78)

This week: None

The Baylor Bears took part in the Myrtle Beach Invitational over the weekend and dominated their competition. Baylor opened the tournament with wins against the Ohio Bobcats (76-53) and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers ( 77-65), where they found themselves as underdogs in the championship round against the No. 17 Villanova Wildcats. Behind a 22-point performance from Jared Butler, the Bears defeated Villanova, 87-78, Sunday to win the Myrtle Beach Invitational. After winning the Myrtle Beach Invitational, Baylor is currently riding a five-game week streak heading into the Thanksgiving break.

TCU HORNED FROGS (4-1)

Last week (1-1): W: UC Irvine (59-58), L: Clemson (62-60 OT)

This week: Tuesday vs Wyoming

The TCU Men's Basketball team had back-to-back nail-biting games that ended on both sides of the spectrum. Sophomore guard, RJ Nembhard scored a game-winning 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds left to give the Horned Frogs a 59-58 victory over UC Irvine. Nembhard ended the night with a game-high 20 points while shooting 5-for-9 from deep. Unfortunately, TCU opened its MGM Resorts Main Event tournament losing in an overtime thriller to the Clemson Tigers, where they blew a 15-point lead in a 62-60 loss Sunday night. TCU will end their tournament against Wyoming on Tuesday.

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (5-0)

Last week: (2-0) W: Tennessee State (72-57), W: Long Island (96-66)

This week: Thursday vs Iowa

The Texas Tech Red Raiders are hot to start the season and are showing no signs of slowing down.

The Red Raiders opened the Las Vegas Classic Regional Round with a 72-57 victory over the Tennessee State Tigers and a 96-66 win over the Long Island Sharks. Freshman guard, Jahmi'us Ramsey, maybe on the verge of taking home the award as the tournament's Most Valuable Player, as he scored 27 points while shooting 10-for-16 from the field, 5-for-6 from deep in a win over the Sharks.

Following a strong start, Texas Tech will continue their Las Vegas Classic tournament on Thursday in a Thanksgiving showdown against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

SMU MUSTANGS (5-0)

Last week (2-0): W: Evansville 59-57, W: UNLV 72-68

This week: Wednesday vs. Hartford, Friday vs Abilene Christian

Last week, the Mustangs continued their winning ways in a 59-57 nail-biter against the Evansville Purple Aces. Juinor guard Tyson Jolly helped SMU escaped with a narrow victory with 15 points, seven rebounds and a block. The Mustangs later extended their winning streak to five, in a 72-68 win over the UNLV Rebels in Las Vegas. SMU will return to Dallas to begin a four-game homestand, which begins against the Hartford Hawks on Wednesday, and the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Friday.

LSU TIGERS (4-2)

Last week (2-1): W: UMBC (77-50), L: Utah St. (80-78), W: Rhode Island (96-83)

This week: Friday vs Missouri St.

The LSU Tigers opened the week with a blowout victory over the UMBC Retrievers before things got testy during the Jamaica Classic. The Tigers suffered a heartbreaking 80-78 loss on Friday when LSU fell to the Utah St. Aggie. The late-game heroics by Utah's Sam Merrill was enough to overcome a 30-point performance by LSU's Skylar Mays. The Tigers bounced back after the loss in a 96-83 victory over the Rhode Island Rams on Sunday. LSU will return to the court on Friday to take on Missouri St. inside the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge, La.

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The Astros are back in action Tuesday night, hosting the White Sox. Composite Getty Image.

The Astros are making noise again — not by bludgeoning teams with a powerhouse offense, but by grinding through games and getting elite production from a patched-together pitching staff. It’s a testament to their depth and resilience that they went 4-2 on a tough road trip while averaging just 3.6 runs per game. Even more impressive? The staff allowed just 2.3 runs per game during that stretch.

It’s fair to be impressed. This is a team still missing key pieces and leaning heavily on unproven arms, yet they’ve built a 2.5-game lead over Seattle in the AL West. If the rotation keeps performing like this, that cushion might not just hold through the All-Star break — it could grow.

Houston's pitching has been the great stabilizer. The Astros rank 1st in strikeouts, 9th in ERA, 4th in WHIP, and 2nd in batting average against. The numbers aren’t carried solely by the stars either. Youngsters like Brandon Walter and Colton Gordon have stepped in admirably. Walter has allowed just two runs combined across his first two starts (6 IP and 5 IP), while Gordon has quietly gone five innings in three straight outings, giving up 1, 4, and 3 runs. Ryan Gusto has been inconsistent — failing to get through five innings in his last three starts — but has kept the damage manageable (3, 2, and 2 runs in those outings).

Meanwhile, the top of the rotation has been lights out. Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown have become one of the most dominant 1-2 punches in baseball, and Lance McCullers Jr. is starting to look like a real contributor again. It’s a staff carrying the team while the bats slowly try to catch up.

That offense, while mediocre overall — 15th in OPS, 20th in runs, 19th in homers, and 18th in slugging — has shown signs of life in recent days. Jeremy Peña and Jake Meyers have provided much-needed sparks. Peña is hitting .370 over the past week with an .851 OPS, while Meyers has been even hotter, posting a .381 average and .934 OPS.

The biggest news off the field this week was the potential end of the Forrest Whitley era. The former first-round pick was designated for assignment, a move that answers an early-season question: Who’s more likely to contribute this year — Whitley or McCullers? The answer is now clear.

Whitley’s DFA also serves as a reminder that not even elite GMs like Jeff Luhnow are immune to draft misses.

As the Houston Chronicle's Greg Rajan points out, Luhnow’s final four first-round picks with Houston all fell short: Whitley (2016), J.B. Bukauskas (2017), Seth Beer (2018), and Korey Lee (2019) have yet to become meaningful pieces for any club. The draft remains a gamble — even for the best.

Still, the Astros are finding answers. Despite an offense that’s still searching for consistency, their pitching — both from the top and the bottom of the depth chart — has been dominant. If that continues, this club won't just hold the lead. They’ll have momentum heading into July.

There's so much more to cover! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!

The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday!

*ChatGPT assisted.

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