COLLEGE BASKETBALL REPORT
NCAA hoops: Tech stumbles; UH, SMU get wins over Wichita State
Jan 22, 2018, 3:56 am
Mohamed Bamba was a big part of Texas' win over Tech. Chris Covatta/Getty Images
TEXAS LONGHORNS (12-7, 3-4 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): W-Texas Tech 67-58, L-@ West Virginia 86-51
This week: Monday vs. Iowa State, Saturday vs. Ole Miss
Kerwin Roach wasn’t even supposed to play for Texas until the weekend, but the doctor cleared him from his fractured hand right before tipoff, and he made the most of it. Roach led Texas with 20 points as the Horns beat the No. 8 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders 67-58. Mohamed Bamba was strong as well, particularly on defense. He posted a 15 point, 11 rebound, 5 block night in the win. Texas outshot Tech 51%-38% on the night. Things didn’t go as well on the road, as Texas dropped their matchup against West Virginia by an 86-51 count. Texas shot horribly, going 34% from the field and only 20% from deep. The Mountaineers also dominated on the boards, 45-29. Bamba had 9 points and 13 rebounds to lead Texas in defeat. Texas has two home games this week, Monday against Iowa State and an out of conference matchup with Ole Miss on Saturday.
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (13-6, 2-5 SEC)
Last week (2-0): W-Ole Miss 71-69, W- Missouri 60-49
This week: Tuesday @ LSU, Saturday @ Kansas
The Aggies finally got their first conference win of the season, though it didn’t come easy. Texas A&M beat Ole Miss 71-69 in a close game that saw Ole Miss rattle out the game-winning attempt at the buzzer. Tyler Davis led the charge for the Aggies with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Robert Williams was terrific from the field, going 8 of 9 en route to an 18 point night. The weekend game against Mizzou was not pretty, with both teams shooting sub-40%, but the Aggies did enough to take a 60-49 win. The Aggies only turned the ball over 4 times in the win. Tonny Trocha-Morelos scored his season-high 14 points and led the team in the win. The Ags travel to LSU and Kansas this week.
HOUSTON COUGARS (15-4, 5-2 AAC)
Last week (1-1): L-@ Tulane 81-72, W-Wichita State 73-59
This week: Sunday vs. South Florida
Last week was a true mixed bag for the Cougars. Houston fell 81-72 at Tulane on Wednesday. The game was closer than the final score would appear. The teams went back and forth until Tulane hit 10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Rob Gray led the Cougars with 24 points in the loss. Devin Davis (5 of 8) was the only Cougar to shoot better than 50% from the field. Houston had a considerably better showing on Saturday against Wichita State, who was ranked No. 7 in the country. The Cougars took the game 73-59, giving them their first win against a top-10 opponent since 1996. Gray again led the Cougars with 24, but the key to the win was a strong defensive showing. The Cougars held the Shockers to 33% shooting and turned them over 18 times. The Coogs are now legitimately in contention for the AAC title, and have only a home matchup with the conference cellar-dwelling South Florida Bulls this weekend.
RICE OWLS (4-16, 1-6 CUSA)
Last week (0-2): L-@ Southern Miss 86-75, L-@ Louisiana Tech 69-54
This week: Thursday vs. Florida International, Saturday vs. Florida Atlantic
Another week, another couple of losses for the Rice Owls. The Owls lost 86-75 to Southern Miss. The Owls shot well, but were out rebounded 29-17 and turned the ball over 23 times on the night. Ako Adams led the Owls in points and assists with 18 and 5, but was also responsible for 6 of the aforementioned turnovers. Things continued against Louisiana Tech, as the Owls fell 69-54 to the Bulldogs. Connor Cashaw led the Owls with 14 points, but Rice struggled to find the basket, shooting 37% for the game. The Owls will try to get out of the Conference USA cellar this week, with relatively winnable games against Florida International and Florida Atlantic.
BAYLOR BEARS (12-7, 2-5 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): W-Oklahoma State 76-60, L-@ Kansas 70-67
This week: Monday vs. Kansas State, Saturday @ Florida
Baylor blew a big first half lead, but came roaring back in the 2nd half to take a 76-60 win over Oklahoma State. Most of the second half charge was led by Manu Lecomte, who was struggling with a sore shoulder. Lecomte scored 30 points on the night, 25 in the second half, to lead the Bears to the much needed conference win. The Bears shot 43% from 3-point range, including Lecomte’s 7 for 12 showing. It seemed they may have taken their momentum into the weekend matchup against Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. The Bears fell behind early, but rallied to take a 6 point lead with two minutes left in the game. It wouldn’t hold, and the Jayhawks took a 70-67 win. Lecomte’s 3-point stroke failed him, as he went 1 of 8 from beyond the arc. Jo Lual-Acuil led the Bears with 14 points and 12 rebounds, but fouled out in the loss. Baylor gets Kansas State at home before traveling to Florida on Saturday.
TCU HORNED FROGS (14-5, 2-5 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): W-Iowa State 96-73, L-@ Kansas State 73-68
This week: Monday vs. West Virginia, Saturday @ Vanderbilt
After losing 4 of 5 to start conference play, TCU got a convincing Big 12 win over Iowa State, 96-73. Playing without Jaylen Fisher, who injured his knee in practice, the Frogs didn’t miss a beat. Vladimir Brodzianksy was 11 of 13 from the field for 26 points. Alex Robinson set a TCU record with 17 assists in the win. Even without their starting point guard, the Frogs only committed 4 turnovers. The turnover bug bit the Frogs later in the week, losing the ball 14 times in a 73-68 loss at Kansas State. Brodziansky again led TCU with 15 points a game that saw the first ever ejection of TCU head coach Jamie Dixon. The Horned Frogs get a home matchup with West Virginia and a road trip to Vanderbilt this week.
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (15-4, 4-3 BIG XII)
Last week (0-2): L-@ Texas 67-58, L-@ Iowa State 70-52
This week: Tuesday vs. Oklahoma State, Saturday @ South Carolina
The Big 12 parity bug finally caught up to Texas Tech. They dropped a 67-58 game to Texas, but Chris Beard believes his team still has what it takes to win the conference. The Raiders shot 38% from the field and 26% from 3-point range in the loss. Freshman Jarrett Culver led the Red Raiders with 16 points and 9 rebounds. The Red Raiders haven’t won a game in Austin since 1996. Ames, Iowa was not much friendlier, as the Red Raiders dropped back to back games for the first time this season in a 70-52 defeat. Keenan Evans, who has led Texas Tech in scoring all season, could only muster 7 points on 2 of 12 shooting. The Raiders as a team shot only 33% from the field. Tech draws Oklahoma State and South Carolina this week.
SMU MUSTANGS (14-6, 4-3 AAC)
Last week (2-0): W-@ Wichita State 83-78, W- Tulane 73-62
This week: Thursday @ Connecticut, Sunday vs. East Carolina
SMU got the toughest win you can get in the AAC, taking an 83-78 game at Wichita State. Shake Milton had a career high 33 points to lead the Mustangs, going 11 of 14 including 5 of 6 from deep. The Ponies didn’t miss much, shooting 63% from the field. The win broke Wichita’s 27 game home winning streak. Milton was hot again against Tulane, scoring 20 to lead the Mustangs to a 73-62 win over the Wave. Jimmy Whitt added 18 points and 5 steals in the victory. SMU gets two bottom-half of the conference opponents in Connecticut and East Carolina this week.
LSU TIGERS (11-7, 2-4 SEC)
Last week (0-2): L-Georgia 61-60, L-@ Vanderbilt 77-71
This week: Tuesday vs. Texas A&M, Saturday @ Auburn
LSU has shown promise early in conference play, but this week was a reminder that they are far from a finished product. Tremont Waters missed a 3 to win the game with two seconds left and LSU lost 61-60 to Georgia. Georgia took the lead with five seconds left to seal the comeback after LSU led by 10 at the half. Waters, LSU’s leading scorer on the season, only scored 6 for the Tigers. Junior Brandon Sampson led LSU with 17 points in the loss. The Bulldogs dominated the glass 38-27. Vanderbilt, the last place team in the SEC, took a 77-71 win over the Tigers in Nashville. Duop Reath did his part, putting up an impressive stat line of 31 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. He shot 13 of 20 from the field, but the rest of the team shot only 14 of 42. LSU gets Texas A&M at home before traveling to Auburn.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Left-hander Mitchell Parker threw seven shutout innings, and Luis Garcia Jr. had three singles and two RBIs and the Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros 6-0 on Sunday.
The Nationals have won three of their past four series after starting the season 2-6.
After allowing two runs over five innings last Monday in his major league debut, a 6-4 win over the L.A. Dodgers, Parker (2-0) was even more effective in his second major league start, allowing three hits, striking out eight and walking none, throwing 57 of his 73 pitches for strikes.
“He has so much poise," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "He’s ready. He gets the ball, ready to get back on the mound. I watched him today. He threw a ground ball. The play was made and he got right on the mound and was holding his glove up as if, ‘hey, come on, give me the ball, like I’m ready to get back on there’. It was cool to watch. He understands what he wants to do.”
Parker mixed his 85-87 mph splitter, 81-82 mph curveball and 92 mph four-seam fastball. He struck out Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña a combined four times. Dylan Floro and Matt Barnes each added a scoreless inning for Washington.
Parker was thrilled to be able to throw the splitter for strikes, something that did not come as easy against the Dodgers.
“100 percent, yeah," Parker said. "We were able to get in there for more swings and misses. They were more competitive pitches. Going to keep working on it, seeing if we can keep it where it is at.”
Astros right-hander Hunter Brown replaced scheduled starter Cristian Javier, who was scratched from Sunday’s series finale with neck discomfort. Javier was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to April 14, and right-hander Spencer Arrighetti was called up from Triple-A Sugar Land.
Manager Joe Espada said they have not decided yet on an MRI for Javier.
“Neck discomfort, started a few days ago,” Espada said. “He tried to work through it but just couldn’t happen. This kind of just came out of nowhere. So, we are going to see what happens here.”
Brown allowed three runs and three hits and a walk in the first but then settled down, lasting four innings when his pitch count reached 84.
“Even in the first I felt like made some good pitches," Brown said. "Came to the outing prepared. Kind of did what I wanted to and it just didn’t fall our way there.”
García Jr.’s two-run single to center field highlighted the three-run first inning for the Nationals.
“We try to score every inning,' Garcia Jr. said through a translator. "But definitely when we score the first inning it gives you a different kind of sense of confidence throughout the game and it carries on through the games a different feeling.”
Joey Meneses had a bases-loaded two-run single to right field off Shawn Dubin in the fifth to make it 5-0. Nick Senzel hit his first home run of the season in the sixth to close out the scoring.
The Astros' tailspin continues, having lost five of their past six and nine of their past 12.
“It is not ideal in the situation that we are in but we are in this situation,” Espada said. “And we got to fight through this. We have guys in there who are capable of giving us innings and some of them are doing that. We are going back to playing the style of baseball that everyone sees the Astros play. We feel pretty good about the guys that we have in there to get us some good innings."
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros left-hander Framber Valdez threw again Sunday and has a chance of starting one of the games in Chicago his week. “We will see how he feels,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Once we see how he feels, we will start talking about the possibilities if he can pitch in Chicago or not.”
Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz said he is about “90 percent” recovered from the flu that placed him on the 10-day injured list on April 12. Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Ruiz will go on a rehab assignment this week to play a couple of games before returning to the club.
UP NEXT
Houston travels to Chicago to begin a three-game series against the Cubs on Tuesday. Espada confirmed JP France and Justin Verlander will start two of the games, but did not specify the order. Spencer Arrighetti, who was called up for Javier, is an option for the opener.
Washington has a day off before hosting the L.A. Dodgers on Tuesday night. Left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-3, 8.06 ERA) faces the Dodgers for the second consecutive start.