COLLEGE BASKETBALL REPORT
NCAA hoops: Mixed bag for most teams of interest in Houston; TCU has big week
Feb 26, 2018, 5:01 pm
Last week (1-1): L-@ Kansas State 58-48, W-Oklahoma State 65-64
This week: Monday @ Kansas, Saturday vs. West Virginia
Texas really could have used a sweep this week. Kansas State decided that didn’t work for them. Texas fell 58-48 to Kansas State on Wednesday. The game was tied at half, but the Wildcats pulled away in the 2nd frame. Texas, who has shot poorly all season, was absolutely awful again. The Horns shot 29% from the field and 11% from 3-point range. Matt Coleman led the Horns with 14 points in the loss. Texas edged out Oklahoma State on Saturday, 65-64. The Horns were shorthanded, as Mohamed Bamba sat out the second half after aggravating a toe injury, and Eric Davis was sidelined while Texas looks into allegations that he took money from a sports agency. Dylan Osetkowski led the Horns with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Texas finds themselves firmly on the bubble for the NCAA tournament, as they look to avoid missing it for the second straight year. A win at Kansas on Monday almost surely puts them in, but they have lost eight straight to the Jayhawks. Texas wraps up its regular season on Saturday with a home game against West Virginia.
Last week (1-1): L-Mississippi State 93-81, W-@ Vanderbilt 89-81
This week: Wednesday @ Georgia, Saturday vs. Alabama
The Aggies split this week, losing their home game and winning on the road. First, they fell 93-81 to Mississippi State in a game that they were dominated in. Mississippi State outscored them 19-5 in points off turnovers, 23-6 in bench points, and out rebounded the Ags 44-31. Free throws also were a struggle for Texas A&M, as they shot only 57% from the line. Tyler Davis was a bright spot for the Aggies, posting 25 points and 11 boards in the loss. Davis was strong again in the Aggies 89-81 win over Vanderbilt, putting up 22 points and 9 rebounds in Nashville. The Aggies had a 24-point lead in the second half, but had to fight off a Commodore run late to hold onto the win. The Aggies were bolstered by a strong 3-point shooting night, shooting 53% from deep on 8-15 shots. The Aggies are likely in the tournament at this point, but finishing out with wins over Georgia and Alabama this week would lock their spot up.
Last week (1-1): L-@ Memphis 91-85, W-East Carolina 109-58
This week: Wednesday @ SMU, Sunday vs. UConn
The Cougars were coming off their best week of the season, and stepped right into a trap, falling 91-85 to Memphis. Houston was up at halftime, but shot horribly in the second half (32%) in the loss. The defense also let them down, as Memphis’ 91 points was the most allowed by the Coogs this season. Rob Gray had 30 points and 7 assists in the loss. It was a frustrating night for the Cougars, who had just crawled into the top 25 for the first time all season. They took that frustration out on East Carolina, decimating the Pirates 109-58. The halftime score was 62-13, as the Cougars shot 12-16 from deep in the first half. Armani Brooks paced the Cougars with 21 points in only 18 minutes on the floor. Rob Gray added 19 points and 11 assists in the win. The Coogs close out the regular season with SMU and UConn this week.
Last week (1-1): W-@ Florida Atlantic 79-76 OT, L-@ Florida International 67-64
This week: Thursday vs. UTEP, Saturday vs. UTSA
The Owls showed a little fight this week, winning their first game and almost winning the second. Rice beat Florida Atlantic 79-76 in overtime, in one of the wildest games of the season. Rice blew a 13-point halftime lead, capped by an FAU 3-pointer with 3 seconds left on the clock to force overtime. FAU hit two free throws with two seconds left to tie the game, and it appeared to be headed toward double OT. Ako Adams hit a 3 at the buzzer though, and Rice came away with the win. Najja Hunter led the Owls with 23 points. The Owls came up just short of winning back-to-back games for the first time this season, falling 67-64 to FIU. The Owls shot only 32% from the field and 26% from 3 in the loss. Malik Osborne led Rice with 20. The Owls wrap up their season with home games against UTEP and UTSA this week.
Last week (0-2): L-West Virginia 71-60, L-@ TCU 82-72
This week: Tuesday vs. Oklahoma, Saturday @ Kansas State
Ouch. Baylor had scratched and clawed their way back into the tournament picture, and now seem like a long shot again. The Bears fell twice this week, starting with a 71-60 loss to West Virginia. The story of the game was Baylor’s first half, where they put up only 18 points. After making their first shot of the game, Baylor made one of their next 15 shots from the field. Jo Lual-Acuil led the Bears with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Things didn’t get better against TCU, as the Bears fell 82-72 in Fort Worth. The Bears had little answers defensively for TCU, as the Frogs shot 54% for the game. Acuil again led the team with 22 points in the loss. The Bears will look to pick up wins against Oklahoma and Kansas State this week before heading into the Big XII tournament.
Last week (2-0): W-@ Iowa State 89-83, W-Baylor 82-72
This week: Tuesday vs. Kansas State, Saturday @ Texas Tech
TCU has solidified its tournament resume with two more wins last week. First, the Frogs got a road win over Iowa State 89-83. TCU fell behind early, but eventually overwhelmed the Cyclones, who only dressed seven players for the game. The Frogs shot the lights out, hitting 58% from the field. They were led by Desmond Bane’s 27 points, but four starters were in double digits. Alex Robinson led the way for TCU against Baylor in an 82-72 win. The TCU point guard had 22 points, including 16 after halftime in the win. The hot shooting continued, as the team went 54% from the field in the Baylor game. TCU closes out the regular season with Kansas State and Texas Tech this week.
Last week (0-2): L-@ Oklahoma State 79-71, L-Kansas 74-72
This week: Monday @ West Virginia, Saturday vs. TCU
It’s hard to tell if Texas Tech is out of steam, but they are definitely sputtering toward the finish line. They started the week with a head scratching loss to Oklahoma State, 79-71. Tech, which has been leaning on its defense all season, struggled to get stops against the Cowboys. Oklahoma State hit 11 of 22 3-point attempts in the game. Keenan Evans struggled mightily on the offensive end, scoring just 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting. Zhaire Smith led the Raiders with 18 points. Then the Red Raiders fell 74-72 to Kansas, in a game that clinched the 14th straight regular season conference title for the Jayhawks. The Jayhawks shot 50% from the field for the game. Evans was miserable again, scoring six points on 1-of-6 shooting. Smith again carried the load with 20 points. The Red Raiders wrap up the season with West Virginia and TCU this week.
Last week (1-1): W-@ East Carolina 77-58, L-Wichita State 84-78
This week: Wednesday vs. Houston, Sunday @ South Florida
SMU got a split this week, which is a welcome sight after a five-game losing streak. They took a win over East Carolina 77-58. The Mustangs shot the ball well, hitting 11-21 from 3-point range. All five Mustang starters were in double digit, led by Jahmal McMurray’s 20. Shake Milton’s absence was felt more against Wichita State, and the Ponies lost 84-78. The Shockers dominated the rebounding department, 41-23. SMU was able to keep it close by hitting 15 3’s, but could never overtake the Shockers. McMurray hit 6 of those 3’s as part of his 28 point night. SMU closes out AAC play with Houston and South Florida this week.
Last week (1-1): W-Vanderbilt 88-78, L-@ Georgia 93-82
This week: Wednesday @ South Carolina, Saturday vs. Mississippi State
LSU went 1-1 this week, and while they probably aren’t headed to the tournament, they have to feel good about Will Wade’s first year as the Tiger head coach. Tremont Waters led the way against Vanderbilt, as LSU took an 88-78 win. Waters had 28 points and 9 assists. The Tigers as a team shot 63% from the field. LSU’s road struggles continued against Georgia, 93-82. It was their sixth straight SEC road loss. Waters was great again, scoring 25 in the loss. Skylar Mays added 20. LSU closes out the season with a road game at South Carolina and a home game against Mississippi State.
They’ll be watching in Canada, not just because of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, though the NBA’s scoring champion and MVP favorite who plays for Oklahoma City surely helps lure in fans who are north of the border.
They’ll be watching from Serbia and Greece, the homelands of Denver star Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Alperen Sengun will have them watching Houston games in the middle of the night in Turkey, too. Slovenian fans will be watching Luka Doncic and the Lakers play their playoff opener at 2:30 a.m. Sunday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Los Angeles. Fans in Cameroon will be tuned in to see Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers. Defending champion Boston features, among others, Kristaps Porzingis of Latvia and Al Horford of the Dominican Republic.
Once again, the NBA playoffs are setting up to be a showcase for international stars.
In a season where the five statistical champions were from five different countries, an NBA first — Gilgeous-Alexander is Canadian, rebounding champion Domantas Sabonis of Sacramento is from Lithuania, blocked shots champion Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio is from France, steals champion Dyson Daniels of Atlanta is from Australia, and assists champion Trae Young of the Hawks is from the U.S. — the postseason will have plenty of international feel as well. Gilgeous-Alexander is in, while Sabonis and Daniels (along with Young, obviously) could join him if their teams get through the play-in tournament.
“We have a tremendous number of international players in this league,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this season. “It’s roughly 30% of our players representing, at least on opening day, 43 different countries, so there’s much more of a global sense around our teams.”
By the end of the season, it wound up being 44 different countries — at least in terms of countries where players who scored in the NBA this season were born. For the first time in NBA history, players from one country other than the U.S. combined to score more than 15,000 points; Canadian players scored 15,588 this season, led by Gilgeous-Alexander, the first scoring champion from that country.
Gilgeous-Alexander is favored to be MVP this season. It'll be either him or Jokic, which means it'll be a seventh consecutive year with an international MVP for the NBA. Antetokounmpo won twice, then Jokic won three of the next four, with Cameroon-born Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers winning two seasons ago.
“Shai is in the category of you do not stop him,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said after a game between the Raptors and Thunder this season.
In other words, he's like a lot of other international guys now. Nobody truly stops Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Doncic either.
And this season brought another international first: Doncic finished atop the NBA's most popular jersey list, meaning NBAStore.com sold more of his jerseys than they did anyone else's. Sure, that was bolstered by Doncic changing jerseys midseason when he was traded by Dallas to the Los Angeles Lakers, but it still is significant.
The Slovenian star is the first international player to finish atop the most popular jerseys list — and the first player other than Stephen Curry or LeBron James to hold that spot in more than a decade, since soon-to-be-enshrined Basketball Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony did it when he was with New York in 2012-13.
“We’re so small, we have 2 million people. But really, our sport is amazing,” fellow Slovene Ajsa Sivka said when she was drafted by the WNBA's Chicago Sky on Monday night and asked about Doncic and other top Slovenian athletes. “No matter what sport, we have at least someone that’s great in it. I’m just really proud to be Slovenian.”
All this comes at a time where the NBA is more serious than perhaps ever before about growing its international footprint. Last month, FIBA — the sport's international governing body — and the NBA announced a plan to partner on a new European basketball league that has been taking shape for many years. The initial target calls for a 16-team league and it potentially could involve many of the biggest franchise names in Europe, such as Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
It was a season where four players topped 2,000 points in the NBA and three of them were international with Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo. Globally, time spent watching NBA League Pass was up 6% over last season. More people watched NBA games in France this season than ever before, even with Wembanyama missing the final two months. NBA-related social media views in Canada this season set records, and league metrics show more fans than ever were watching in the Asia-Pacific region — already a basketball hotbed — as well.
FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said the numbers — which are clearly being fueled by the continued international growth — suggest the game is very strong right now.
“Looking around the world, and of course here in North America," Zagklis said, "the NBA is most popular and more commercially successful than ever.”