College Basketball Week In Review
A&M struggling; Baylor heating up
Feb 5, 2019, 8:01 am
Billy Kennedy's Aggies are struggling. Getty Images
TEXAS LONGHORNS (12-10) 4-5 Big XII
Last week (1-1): W- Kansas 73-63, L- @ Iowa State 65-60
This week: Wednesday vs. Baylor, Saturday @ West Virginia
Texas knew they needed a big week to remain in contention for a tourney bid, and it started off on the right foot with a 73-63 win over Kansas. The Horns hadn't won a game against Kansas since 2014. Defense carried the Horns in the first half, and offense in the endgame. Dylan Osetkowski put up 16 in the win, and Kerwin Roach added 15. Jace Febres hit 4 3-pointers, all seemingly at a point where Kansas was poised to make a real run to get back in the game. Texas followed that up with a strong effort at Iowa State, but fell short, 65-60. Roach led the way offensively, scoring 19 in the loss. Texas struggled from distance, hitting only 6-23 from long range. Texas, down by as many as 14 points, cut the Cyclone lead to 1 with under 2 minutes left, but couldn't get over the hump. The Horns get Baylor and West Virginia this week.
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (8-12) 1-7 SEC
Last week (0-2): L- LSU 72-57, L- Tennessee 93-76
This week: Wednesday @ Ole Miss, Saturday @ Mizzou
The woes continue for Texas A&M, with a two-loss week. They started off getting blown out 72-57 by LSU. The Aggies struggled to put anything together offensively outside of TJ Starks, who scored 21 points despite going 2-10 from 3. The Aggies shot 14% from distance as a team, and only 33% from the field. Those numbers, compounded by 16 turnovers, made for a long night. The Aggies then took on the number 1 team in the country, falling 93-76 to Tennessee. Different story, same result in this one as the Aggies woes came on the defensive end in this one. Tennessee shot 65% from the field and 45% from 3-point range in the game. Wendell Mitchell had 18 for the Aggies in defeat. Texas A&M gets Ole Miss and Mizzou on the road this week.
HOUSTON COUGARS (21-1) 8-1 American
Last week (1-0): W- Temple 73-66
This week: Wednesday @ UCF, Saturday vs. Cincinnati
Houston got its revenge. The Cougars got back their only loss of the season, taking down Temple 73-66. Defense won the day for UH, holding Temple to just 34 percent shooting. Corey Davis, Jr. led the offensive attack for the Cougars with 24 points in the win. There was a massive discrepancy in free throws, with Temple shooting 14 and UH taking 36. The coming week is clearly the toughest run of schedule for Houston, with a road game against third place UCF and a home game against the conference co-leader Cincinnati.
RICE OWLS (9-14) 4-6 CUSA
Last week (1-1): W- @ Charlotte 65-61, L- UAB 89-86
This week: Wednesday vs. Western Kentucky, Sunday vs. Marshall
Rice did something they haven't done much this season, winning a game on the road, 65-61 at Charlotte. The Owls weren't great, shooting just 38% from the field and turning the ball over 15 times, but the 3-point shooting puled them through. Rice hit 11-22 from distance, including 3 from Ako Adams, who led the Owls with 16 points. They followed that up with a valiant effort that came up just short, falling to conference-leading Old Dominion 80-76. This time it was the opposition getting hot from deep. ODU shot 57 percent from 3-point range in the game. Adams struggled, shooting just 3-10 from the field. The Owls were paced by freshman Chris Mullins' 14 points. Rice is back at home this week for games against Western Kentucky and Marshall.
BAYLOR BEARS (15-6) 6-2 Big XII
Last week (1-0): W- TCU 90-64
This week: Wednesday @ Texas, Saturday vs. Kansas State
Baylor is making their case for being the team to beat in the Big XII. They only played one game this week, but made a statement, destroying TCU 90-64. Makai Mason had a career night, scoring 40 points in the victory. Mason was 14-20 from the field, and hit 9-12 3-pointers. The Bears pulled away early and never looked back. Rebounding was a key factor for Baylor, as they had a 40-26 advantage on the boards. The win was Baylor's 6th straight. Baylor has Texas and Kansas State this week.
TCU HORNED FROGS (15-6) 3-5 Big XII
Last week (0-1): L- @ Baylor 90-64
This week: Wednesday vs. Oklahoma State, Saturday @ Iowa State
Like Baylor, the TCU-Baylor matchup was the only one this week for the Frogs. Baylor dominated TCU 90-64. TCU shot just 4-14 from 3, and were dominated statistically in basically every metric. Senior JD Miller had 17 to pace the Frogs. Desmond Bane, who the Horned Frogs need to get a boost from, was on the floor for 30 minutes, but held to just 5 points and 2 rebounds. TCU will look to get things back on track with a game against Oklahoma State followed by a road trip to Iowa State.
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (18-5) 6-4 Big XII
Last week (1-1): L- @ Kansas 79-63, W- West Virginia 81-50
This week: Saturday @ Oklahoma
Texas Tech continued its struggles away from Lubbock, dropping a 79-63 decision at Kansas. Tech was down by 20 at halftime, and never recovered from the slow start. Tech's defense wasn't itself, as the Jayhawks shot 46% from the field and 43% from 3-point range. Davide Moretti led the Red Raiders with 14 points in the loss. Tariq Owens had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Things got better back at home, with an 81-50 drubbing of West Virginia. The defense was back on track, with WVU shooting only 23% from the field (9-39). The Raiders also forced 26 turnovers. There was an ugly moment where WVU reserve Logan Routt tripped Matt Mooney from the bench and was ejected. Brandone Francis led the Red Raiders in scoring with 16. Texas Tech has just one game this week, a road game against Oklahoma.
SMU MUSTANGS (12-9) 4-5 American
Last week (0-2): L- @ Wichita State 85-83, L- @ Cincinnati 73-68
This week: Wednesday vs. USF, Sunday vs. UCF
SMU dropped a heartbreaker at Wichita State, 85-83. Samajae Haynes-Jones hit a game winning layup for Wichita with 1 second to play in a game that SMU led for the majority. Isiaha Mike led the Mustangs with 25 in the loss. All 5 starters for SMU were in double digits, which was good because their bench was outscored 15-0. The Ponies then went to Cincinnati, where they lost a tightly contested 73-68 game to the Bearcats. Again, the Mustangs got good output from their starting lineup, but saw their reserves outscored 20-1. Jahmal McMurray led the way for SMU, scoring 21 in defeat. SMU is back at home this week against South Florida and Central Florida.
LSU TIGERS (17-4) 7-1 SEC
Last week (1-1): W- @ Texas A&M 72-57, L- Arkansas 90-89
This week: Wednesday @ Mississippi State, Saturday vs. Auburn
LSU started off with a dominant road win over Texas A&M, 72-57. It didn't exactly come easy for the Tigers, who shot just 37% from the field. Naz Reid, Marlon Taylor and Skylar Mays shot just 6-31 combined, but Tremont Waters dominated. Waters had 38 points and 5 rebounds for the Tigers, essentially carrying them single-handedly to a win. LSU then dropped their first SEC game of the season, 90-89 against Arkansas. LSU missed 3 chances at a game winner. LSU dominated the boards 44-20, but Arkansas hit 58% from the field and 54% from 3. LSU turned the ball over 21 times. Nad Reid led the Tigers with 19 in the loss. LSU has a road game at Mississippi State and a home game against Auburn this week.
It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. 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!
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