GO COOGS!

Big 12 champ and No. 3 Houston wraps regular season with win at Baylor

Cougars Kelvin Sampson
The Cougars beat Baylor, 65-61. Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images.

L.J. Cryer scored 23 points with six 3-pointers as Big 12 champion and third-ranked Houston won its 10th consecutive game, beating Baylor 65-61 on Saturday night to wrap up the regular season.

J'Wan Roberts added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (27-4, 19-1 Big 12), including two free throws with 13 seconds remaining. Milos Uzan had 12 points and Emanuel Sharp scored 11.

The Cougars won without making a field goal after Sharp's 3-pointer for a 58-48 lead with 6:07 left. They have won a national-best 14 road games in a row, including a 10-0 mark in Big 12 play.

Baylor (18-13, 10-10) led 29-26 at halftime and was up by seven before the Cougars used a 20-4 run to take the lead for good.

Freshman guard VJ Edgecombe scored 23 points for the Bears, who have lost four of their last six games.

Norchad Omier had 13 points and 16 rebounds, his 87th career double-double to match Tim Duncan’s total at Wake Forest for the second-most in NCAA history. Tom Gola had 96 for La Salle in the 1950s.

Takeaways

Houston: The Cougars have at least 27 wins for the fifth season in a row under coach Kelvin Sampson. ... Roberts has 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 points, joining Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon and Greg Anderson as the only Houston players to accomplish that feat.

Baylor: The Bears didn’t have a winning conference record for the first time since an 8-10 Big 12 mark in 2017-18.

Key moment

Ja’Vier Francis' baseline dunk eight minutes into the second half gave Houston its first lead since the 8:08 mark of the first.

Key stat

Cryer, part of Baylor's 2021 national championship team as a freshman, made his first six 3s. His first miss came early in the second half.

Up next

The Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. Houston has a double-bye into the quarterfinals Thursday. Baylor, the No. 7 seed, plays a second-round game Wednesday.

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The Cubs beat the Astros, 12-3. Composite Getty Image.

Kyle Tucker launched a three-run homer and matched a season high with four hits against the team that traded him in December, and the Chicago Cubs routed Houston 12-3 on Saturday night to stop the Astros' five-game winning streak.

Tucker also scored four times to pace a Cubs lineup that pounded out 15 hits, including three by Dansby Swanson. Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch and Nico Hoerner also went deep.

Chicago hit three homers in an inning for the second time this season during a seven-run fourth. Busch and Hoerner had back-to-back solo shots to put the Cubs on top 3-2, and Tucker’s drive made it 7-2.

The offensive outburst came in support of Colin Rea (5-3), who allowed two runs and five hits over five innings. The only blemish on his line was rookie Cam Smith’s two-run homer in the third, which briefly gave the Astros a 2-1 lead.

Smith, part of the package Houston received for Tucker, finished with two hits and has homered in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

Lance McCullers Jr. (1-3) came off the injured list and allowed eight runs on seven hits over 3 1/3 innings.

Isaac Paredes, also part of the Astros' trade return for Tucker, hit his 17th home run.

Key moment

Tucker’s three-run homer in the fourth that put the Cubs ahead 7-2.

Key stat

McCullers has a 10.89 ERA in five home starts this season, but hasn’t allowed an earned run in three road starts.

Up next

Houston LHP Framber Valdez (8-4, 2.88 ERA) opposes RHP Jameson Taillon (7-5, 4.77 ERA) when the series concludes Sunday.

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