Houston wins again!

No. 5 Houston holds off Colorado 69-59

Houston Cougars Kelvin Sampson
Another win for the Coogs! Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

J’Wan Roberts scored 20 points, Terrance Arceneaux added 13 of his 15 points in the second half and No. 5 Houston held off Colorado 69-59 on Saturday to hand the Buffaloes their 12th straight loss.

L.J. Cryer finished with 15 points for the Cougars (19-4, 11-1 Big 12). He appeared to be shaken up late in the game.

Houston raced out to a 9-0 lead and looked on the brink of making quick work of the Buffaloes (9-14, 0-12). But Colorado took its time on offense, played tight defense and steadily chipped away.

A key moment was around the 3-minute mark when Milos Uzan was called for a travel after the horn sounded for a shot-clock violation on Colorado. It was overturned on review. Roberts proceeded to hit two short-range shots to give Cougars some breathing room.

Julian Hammond III had 22 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead Colorado. The Buffaloes have dropped 12 in a row for the first time since 2008-09.

Takeaways

Houston: Kelvin Sampson picked up his first win over Colorado as the coach of Houston. He was 14-3 against the Buffaloes while at Oklahoma.

Colorado: Colorado dropped to 1-3 against teams ranked in the top-five this season. It’s the fourth time in the AP rankings era (1948-49) the Buffaloes have faced four top-five teams in the same season.

Key moment

Colorado was hanging close when Houston's Mylik Wilson had a pivotal steal and dunk with just over 5 minutes remaining.

Key stat

Houston held an edge in rebounds (38-26), points in the paint (42-20) and second-chance points (18-7).

Up next

Houston hosts Baylor on Monday, while Colorado travels to No. 16 Kansas on Tuesday.

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The Astros are looking to avoid being swept at home. Composite Getty Image.

The Houston Astros are looking to avoid an unexpected sweep Wednesday night as they wrap up their three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians at Daikin Park.

Winners of six of their last ten despite back-to-back losses, the Astros (55-37) turn to left-hander Brandon Walter (1-1, 4.15 ERA) to steady the ship and salvage the finale. Walter has been reliable in his recent outings, and he’ll face a Guardians lineup that has struggled to string together hits, batting just .204 over their last 10 games.

Cleveland (42-48) entered the series on a 10-game losing streak, but now has a chance to sweep the AL West leaders and take the season series. Slade Cecconi (3-4, 3.56 ERA) gets the start for the Guardians. The 26-year-old righty has kept his ERA under 4.00 this year and will look to neutralize a Houston offense that leads the American League in batting average at .260 and is hitting .295 over the last 10 games.

All eyes remain on Jose Altuve, who has driven in 16 runs and slugged four homers over his last 10 games. He’s been the heartbeat of the Houston offense, while Isaac Paredes continues to deliver steady power at the top of the lineup. The Astros have scored five or more runs in eight of their last ten games, but the bullpen faltered late in both of the first two games of this series.

Cleveland counters with the steady presence of Carlos Santana and the always-dangerous Jose Ramirez. Though Ramirez is just 6-for-38 in his last 10 games, he’s delivered key home runs in the series and remains the Guardians’ biggest threat.

With the season series now 3-2 in favor of Cleveland, Wednesday’s matchup carries added weight for the Astros as they look to regroup and avoid letting momentum slip further. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET.

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -144, Guardians +121; over/under is 8 runs

Astros lineup for the finale

What stands out? First off, Jake Meyers returns to the lineup after missing a couple of games with a calf issue. With Meyers back in the two-spot, Cam Smith returns to hitting cleanup. Caratini is playing first base again and hitting fifth, followed by Yainer Diaz (C), Cooper Hummel (DH), Taylor Trammell (LF), and Mauricio Dubon (SS).

 

  Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.

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