COLLEGE BASKETBALL REPORT
NCAA hoops: Huge week for UH; Baylor is back in the mix
Feb 19, 2018, 8:27 pm
Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars had a big week. UHCougars.com
TEXAS LONGHORNS (16-11, 6-8 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): L-Baylor 74-73 (2OT), W-@ Oklahoma 77-66
This week: Wednesday @ Kansas State, Saturday vs. Oklahoma State
Texas continues to be sort of a roller coaster ride. The started the week with a 74-73 double overtime loss to Baylor. The Horns, already the worst scoring team in the conference, shot horribly again against the Bears. They shot 36% from the field and a miserable 16% from 3-point range. Texas really was only able to stay in the game as long as they did because they shot free throws well, and won the turnover battle 13-5. Mohamed Bamba led Texas with 16 points and 16 rebounds in the loss. They followed it up by taking advantage of a scuffling Oklahoma team with a 77-66 win. OU’s Trae Young got his points (26), but Texas limited him to 7-of-21 shooting for the night. On the offensive end, Dylan Osetkowski was the leader with 21 points. Bamba added 10 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks in the game. Texas won the rebounding battle 43-31. Texas really needs the coming week to be a good one, with winnable matchups at Kansas State and against Oklahoma State.
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (17-10, 6-8 SEC)
Last week (0-2): L-@ Missouri 62-58, L-@ Arkansas 94-75
This week: Tuesday vs. Mississippi State, Saturday @ Vanderbilt
After starting 1-5 in SEC play, Texas A&M had clawed its way back to 6-6 in conference with back to back wins against Auburn and Kentucky. Then things fell apart last week. The Aggies first dropped a 62-58 contest against Missouri. The Aggies had averaged 82 PPG during their 4 game winning streak. Missouri was able to shut down the Aggie attack. Turnovers killed them, as Missouri scored 12 points off of 16 takeaways. TJ Starks and Admon Gilder both scored 14 in the loss, but the Aggie bench scored just 2 points on 1-of-12 shooting. Things only got worse over the weekend, as Texas A&M got housed by Arkansas 94-75. The Aggies couldn’t slow the Arkansas attack, and the Razorbacks hit just under 50% from the field. The Aggies, ranked third in the country in rebounding, were beat on the glass 45-33. Gilder and Robert Williams both put up 20 in the loss. The Ags will look to get back on track this week with games against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
HOUSTON COUGARS (21-5, 11-3 AAC)
Last week (2-0): W-Cincinnati 67-62, W-@ Temple 80-59
This week: Thursday @ Memphis, Sunday vs. East Carolina
The Cougars continue to roll, gaining two of their bigger wins of the season last week. First, maybe their best win of the year, a 67-62 win against No. 5 Cincinnati. The win, paired with their earlier win against Wichita State, gave Houston wins over multiple top-10 teams for the first time since 1984, when they were runners up for the national title. The game started out poorly for the Coogs, as Cincinnati jumped out to an early 13-2 lead. Corey Davis and Devin Davis paced the Cougars with 16 each in the win. Things continued to click for the Coogs against Temple, as they finally got the strong road win that has eluded them, 80-59. The Cougars jumped out to a 15-0 lead, and the Owls didn’t score for almost the first seven minutes of the game. Corey Davis again led the way with 20 points. Houston was +31 in rebounding for the game. The Cougars, now confident they have a tournament bid locked up, face a down Memphis team and a bad East Carolina team this week.
RICE OWLS (5-22, 2-12 CUSA)
Last week (0-2): L-Marshall 93-80, L- Western Kentucky 85-66
This week: Thursday @ Florida Atlantic, Saturday @ Florida International
At this point there isn’t much positive to say about the Owls’ season. They dropped two more games last week, starting with a 93-80 loss against Marshall. The Owls were solid offensively, but Marshall shot 57% from the field and 54% from 3-point distance in the game. Connor Cashaw led Rice with 24 points in the loss. The defense didn’t get much better against Western Kentucky, who blew out Rice by a score of 85-66. The Hilltoppers had their way from the field as well going 56% overall and 56% from distance. Malik Osborne led the Owls in scoring with 15. They limp into the week with road games against Florida Atlantic and Florida International, who provided Rice one of their five wins this season.
BAYLOR BEARS (17-10, 7-7 BIG XII)
Last week (2-0): W-@ Texas 74-73 (2OT), W-Texas Tech 59-57
This week: Tuesday vs. West Virginia, Saturday @ TCU
Baylor, once 2-7 in the conference and basically left for dead as far as tourney prospects go, have ripped off a five-game win streak, and now likely find themselves on the good side of the bubble. This week went well, as they started off with a double overtime win at Texas 74-73. Jo-Lual Acuil had a put-back dunk to win it for the Bears. Terry Maston led the Bears with 26 points in the win. The Bears dominated the glass, with a plus-12 rebounding margin for the game. Baylor then overcame a poor shooting performance against Texas Tech to take a 59-57 win over the Red Raiders. The Bears shot just 33% from the field, but held Tech to 39% and won the turnover battle 18-12. Maston sparked the Bears again with 24 points in the win. Baylor will look to keep the momentum going with matchups against West Virginia and TCU this week.
TCU HORNED FROGS (18-9, 6-8 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): L-@ West Virginia 82-66, W-Oklahoma State 90-70
This week: Wednesday @ Iowa State, Saturday vs. Baylor
The Horned Frogs were let down by their defense in Morgantown, as West Virginia shot 51% from the field and 56% from 3-point range in an 82-66 loss for TCU. Desmond Bane led the way for the Frogs in the loss, adding 16 points. West Virginia’s bench outscored TCU’s bench 38-8. Things got better for TCU against Oklahoma State, as the Frogs rode a dominant 2nd half to a 90-70 victory. TCU got a balanced attack with 6 players in double-digit scoring, led by redshirt freshman Kouat Noi. The Frogs were 50% from 3-point range on the day, knocking down 8-of-16 from deep. TCU goes to Iowa State on Wednesday before a crucial matchup with Baylor on Saturday.
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (22-5, 10-4 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): W-Oklahoma 88-78, L-@ Baylor 59-57
This week: Wednesday @ Oklahoma State, Saturday vs. Kansas
Texas Tech got off to a great start this week, taking an impressive 88-78 win over Oklahoma. The Red Raiders held the Big 12’s leading scorer, Trae Young, to 19 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Young was 0-for-9 from 3 in the game. The conference’s second leading scorer, Tech’s Keenan Evans, put up 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The win was the 17th straight at home for Tech, the longest streak in the conference. Things took a turn for the worse against Baylor. Not only did the Raiders drop the game 59-57, but they also lost Evans in the first half to a foot injury that he didn’t return from. Coach Chris Beard has yet to say much about the extent of the injury, but Tech can ill-afford to be without Evans for any significant amount of time. Zhaire Smith led the Red Raiders with 15 points in the loss. Tech goes to Oklahoma State on Wednesday and returns home for a game against Kansas. Tech and Kansas are currently tied for first in the conference.
SMU MUSTANGS (15-12, 5-9 AAC)
Last week (0-2): L-Memphis 70-67, L-@ UCF 52-37
This week: Wednesday @ East Carolina, Saturday vs. Wichita State
The wheels are officially off at SMU. After a 12-3 start, the Mustangs have gone 3-9 since and have lost any shot at an at-large bid that they may have had. This week started off with a 70-67 home loss to Memphis. Jahmal McMurray did his part, scoring 33 points including 9 made 3’s. The Tigers outshot SMU 51%-37%. The Ponies only shot six free throws for the game, converting on three of them. It went from bad to worse for SMU, falling 52-37 to Central Florida. The Mustangs shot a pathetic 25% from the field, and were 2-of-15 from 3-point range. Ben Emologu led the Mustangs with 12 points in the loss. SMU travels to East Carolina before returning home to face Wichita State on Saturday.
LSU TIGERS (15-11, 6-8 SEC)
Last week (1-1): L-@ Alabama 80-65, W-Missouri 64-63
This week: Tuesday vs. Vanderbilt, Saturday @ Georgia
LSU fell to Alabama 80-65 on Tuesday in a game that saw the Tigers make just one field goal over a 13 minute run in the second half. They allowed Bama to shoot 55% for the game, and only managed 39% themselves. Daryl Edwards was the lone bright spot, putting up 21 points on 8-10 shooting in the loss. While the Tigers’ shooting woes continued on Saturday, they were able to pull off a 64-63 win over Missouri. Tremont Waters led the Tigers with 21 points in the win. Waters hit the game winner with 19 seconds left on the clock. LSU gets Vanderbilt at home before traveling to Georgia, so they face two teams this week who are below them in the SEC standings.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.