Houston defeats Arizona State
Cougars tighten grip on Big 12 with pivotal win over Arizona State
Feb 19, 2025, 7:33 am
The Coogs beat Arizona State, 80-65. Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images.
L.J. Cryer scored 18 points, Emanuel Sharp added 17 and No. 5 Houston dominated Arizona State 80-65 on Tuesday night.
The Cougars (22-4, 14-1 Big 12) moved up a spot in the latest AP Top 25 after grinding out a 62-58 win over No. 19 Arizona on Saturday.
Houston had a much easier time on the second leg of its desert trip, building a 16-point halftime lead and stretching it to 23. The Cougars have won 18 of 19 and have the nation's longest active road winning streak at 12.
The Sun Devils (12-14, 3-12) had no answers for Houston at either end, even with Jayden Quaintance back after missing two games with a sprained ankle.
Alston Mason had 26 points and B.J. Freeman added 17 to lead the Sun Devils, who have lost six straight.
Houston jumped on Arizona State from the start, hitting 15 of 28 shots to lead 47-31 at halftime. Houston also held the Sun Devils to 3-for-12 shooting on 3-pointers and converted seven turnovers into 15 points.
The Cougars went on an early 7-0 run in the second half to go up 23 and still led by 12 after Arizona State went on a late 11-0 run.
Takeaways
Houston: The Cougars picked up a huge win in the Big 12 race against Arizona and remain two games up after the desert sweep.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils are searching for answers following their seventh straight home loss.
Key moment
Houston gradually built the lead in the first half before hitting 7 of 9 shots to stretch it to 34-22.
Key stat
Sharp shot 4 of 7 on 3s after going scoreless against Arizona.
Up next
Houston hosts No. 8 Iowa State on Saturday, while Arizona State is at Kansas State on Sunday.
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Jake Meyers scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, Isaac Paredes drove in an insurance run and the Houston Astros defeated the Cleveland Guardians 5-3 in 10 innings on Saturday.
Yainer Diaz had a two-run homer in the sixth as the Astros won for the fifth time in six games.
Cleveland's José Ramírez had two hits, including a two-run homer in the seventh inning, and extended his on-base streak to a career-best 33 games.
Steven Kwan added three hits, but the Guardians lost their third straight.
Meyers was the automatic runner in the 10th. He advanced to third on Jeremy Peña's grounder to first and scored when a slider by Hunter Gaddis (0-1) on an 0-2 count was low and outside.
Paredes then drove in Jacob Melton with a base hit to right field.
Cleveland had runners on first and second with two out in the 10th but Bennett Sousa struck out Jhonkensy Noel to end the game for his first save of the season.
Josh Hader (2-0) got the win.
Houston starter Hunter Brown, who was trying to become the first pitcher in the majors to reach nine wins this season, went 5 1/3 innings and allowed one run with nine strikeouts.
Key moment
Kwan led off the seventh inning with a walk before Ramírez tied it at 3-3 when he lined Shawn Dubin's changeup into the right field stands for his team-leading 12th homer of the season.
Key stat
Peña extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI infield single in the fifth inning. His career long is 14 games, which he had earlier this season.
Up next
Cleveland right-hander Tanner Bibee (4-6, 3.89 ERA) is 2-0 in day games this season. Left-hander Brandon Walter (0-0, 0.00), added to the taxi squad on Saturday, goes for Houston.