GO COOGS!
No. 1 Houston tops UCF to clinch at least a share of Big 12 title in 1st season in conference
Mar 7, 2024, 8:26 am
Houston beat UCF, 67-59. Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images.
L.J. Cryer scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half to lift No. 1 Houston to a 67-59 comeback victory over UCF on Wednesday night that clinched at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title in the Cougars' first season in the conference.
Houston, which moved from the American Athletic Conference, has won either a conference tournament or regular-season title in six straight seasons.
“We knew the Big 12 is the best conference in college basketball,” Cougars forward J’Wan Roberts said. “Houston has been a winning program for a long time. It didn’t really matter which conference we ended up going in, once we traveled with our DNA and our toughness, I feel like we can compete with anybody in the nation.”
Houston (27-3, 14-3) led by nine after Cryer's 3-pointer with 2:18 to play. UCF (15-14, 6-11) closed within four with just over a minute left, but Cryer hit another clutch shot to pull away.
The Cougars trailed by as many as seven points and never led in the first half. They did not take their first lead until Jamal Shead drained a 3 to make it 45-42 with about 12 minutes to play.
Houston’s defense stifled UCF throughout the second half, holding the Knights to one field goal over nearly five minutes to take control of the game.
“I feel like there were some turnovers in there for sure,” UCF guard Darius Johnson said. “We were playing on the perimeter and allowing them to be comfortable on D.”
Shead finished with 16 points and eight assists. Roberts had 12 points and seven rebounds. Cryer shot 9 of 17 from the floor, including 5 of 11 on 3-pointers.
“Coach tells me to keep shooting no matter if I am making or missing,” Cryer said. “Once I got going, they did a great job putting the ball in my hands and my teammates did a great job trusting me with the ball. We went out there and did what we did.”
C.J. Walker led UCF with 15 points. Jaylin Sellers added 12.
The Knights shot 45.5% for the game. They held the Cougars to 37.5% shooting and 2 for 11 from 3 in the first half.
Houston forced 18 turnovers and scored 22 points off them.
UCF had just four points off 10 forced turnovers.
BIG PICTURE
Houston: The Cougars can clinch an outright conference title with a win in their last game of the regular season against No. 14 Kansas on Saturday or a loss by sixth-ranked Iowa State at Kansas State.
UCF: The Knights need one more win to guarantee they will finish above .500 and get in position to receive one of the Big 12's automatic bids to the NIT.
UP NEXT
Houston: At home against Kansas on Saturday.
UCF: Closes its regular season Saturday on the road against TCU.
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There’s a sign outside of McDonald’s that keeps track of the millions and millions of hamburgers they’ve sold.
There could be a sign outside Minute Maid Park that keeps track of the millions and millions of dollars Alex Bregman is losing by having the worst season of his career in his contract year.
Maybe instead of appearing in H-E-B commercials he could sign an endorsement deal with Rice Krispies and be part of Snap, Crackle and Pop Out.
Tuesday night, Bregman went 0-4 against the Yankees and his batting average dropped below .200 into Martin Maldonado territory.
Bregman entered this season claiming to be in the best shape of his life and promising big things for 2024.
“My body feels in incredible shape,” Bregman said at the start of spring training. “Swing feels better than ever. And looking forward to a great, healthy season. And I expect to have the best season I’ve ever had.”
And remember when Astros general manager Dana Brown assured fans, don’t worry, we’re going to offer Bregman a contract to stay with the Astros?
“Look, we love Alex, we’d love to have him here. As far as a timeline, we just don’t have it, but we will at some point make him an offer. We know how good he is and how good he’s been for this franchise. It would be tough to look out at third base and not see that elite defense. And so at some point we’ll circle back and have those conversations,” Brown said.
Godot will show up before the Astros put a contract on the table for Bregman. (For those who didn’t read Waiting for Godot in English Lit 101 … Godot never appears in the book.)
With the season nearly a quarter over, Bregman is batting .195. He’s been hitting at the top of the order the entire year, either in the No. 2 spot or cleanup. His power outage would make the Texas grid system look good: 6 runs, 11 RBI and one home run.
Stop saying “Bregman always has a slow start.” Start ended a couple of weeks ago. And stop saying “He will snap out of it.” In his last 10 games, Bregman’s average has dwindled from .216 to .195.
Bregman’s hitting woes actually are part of a five-year trend. In 2019 he had his best season, hitting .296 and smacking 41 home runs.
Since then:
2020: .242 and 6 home runs (Covid season).
2021: .270 and 12 home runs.
2022: .259 and 23 home runs.
2023: .262 and 25 home runs.
If Bregman’s struggles continue, this will be his fifth below-average season in a row. Back in spring training, there was talk of him getting a super long-term deal worth $200 million-plus when he hits free agency at the end of this season.
Chances of that happening: none. As things stand now, Bregman has a better chance of becoming Jerry Seinfeld’s latex salesman.