COLLEGE BASKETBALL REPORT
NCAA hoops: Texas, Tech bounce back with undefeated weeks; A&M fading
Jan 29, 2018, 5:21 am
Shaka Smart and the Longhorns had a good week. Jamie Squire/Getty Images
TEXAS LONGHORNS (14-7, 4-4 BIG XII)
Last week (2-0): W-Iowa State 73-57, W-Ole Miss 85-72
This week: Wednesday @ Texas Tech, Saturday vs. Oklahoma
After being dealt the most lopsided loss in Shaka Smart’s tenure at Texas, the Longhorns bounced back to roll through Iowa State 73-57. Mohamed Bamba had one of his best games of the season, scoring 24 points on 9-11 shooting, while adding 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Kerwin Roach added 22 in the win. Defense was key again for the Horns, as they held Iowa State scoreless over the last four minutes of the game, and to under 40% shooting on the day. As great as Bamba was against Iowa State, he was even more dominant against Ole Miss. The freshman put up 25 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks to lead Texas to an 85-72 victory. Dylan Osetkowski was also strong in the win, putting up 17 points and 7 boards. The Horns will look to carry their momentum into this week, with tough matches at Texas Tech and against Oklahoma.
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (13-8, 2-6 SEC)
Last week (0-2): L-@ LSU 77-65, L-@ Kansas 79-68
This week: Tuesday vs. Arkansas, Saturday vs. South Carolina
Texas A&M, who many in the preseason thought would be a force in the SEC race, may have fallen out of NCAA tournament contention this week. The Aggies fell to LSU 77-65 to start the week. Robert Williams and Tyler Davis were the bright spots for the Ags, scoring 21 and 12 respectively. Unfortunately the rest of their starters, DJ Hogg, Admon Gilder and Duane Wilson combined to go 3-22 from the field and 1-14 from 3 point range. The Aggies turned the ball over 20 times, and only forced 7 turnovers themselves. The Aggies had a chance to get their biggest win of the season against Kansas, but never had much of a chance, falling 79-68. Kansas built an 18 point halftime lead, and coasted to the win. The distance shooting continued to haunt Texas A&M, as their starters went just 2-12 from deep. Tyler Davis led the Aggies with 18 in the loss. The Aggies draw home games against Arkansas and South Carolina this week.
HOUSTON COUGARS (16-4, 6-2 AAC)
Last week (1-0): W-South Florida 63-40
This week: Wednesday @ Cincinnati, Saturday @ UCF
Houston rolled to a 63-40 win over South Florida. It was a dominant defensive performance for the Cougars, who held the Bulls under 32% shooting on the day. Rob Gray, leading scorer for the Cougars on the season, scored only 2 points, but Fabian White and Corey Davis picked up the slack, scoring 16 and 17 points. The Cougars have two road games this week, taking on a strong Cincinnati team and a scuffling Central Florida squad. Houston is now tied for second in the American Conference with Wichita State, two games back of Cincinnati.
RICE OWLS (5-17, 2-7 CUSA)
Last week (1-1): W-Florida International 73-64, L-Florida Atlantic 63-62
This week: Thursday vs. Florida International, Saturday vs. Florida Atlantic
Rice picked up a rare win last week, taking a 73-64 decision over Florida International. The Owls were strong on the glass with a +10 rebounding margin in the game. Malik Osborne led the team in scoring with 16, but Connor Cashaw put up an outstanding line 12 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists. It looked like Rice was going to get back to back wins for the first time this season, but Florida Atlantic hit a 3 at the buzzer to drop Rice 63-62. The game was back and forth all day, and statistically the teams were quite even. Cashaw led Rice with 16 in the loss, while Osborned added 10 points and 8 boards. Rice travels to North Texas and Middle Tennessee for games this week.
BAYLOR BEARS (12-9, 2-6 BIG XII)
Last week (0-2): L-Kansas State 90-83, L-@ Florida 81-60
This week: Tuesday @ Oklahoma, Saturday vs. Iowa State
It appears the wheels have fallen off for the Baylor Bears, as they dropped two more this week. The Bears fell to Kansas State 90-83 on Monday. Baylor had no answers for Dean Wade and Barry Brown, who combined for 58 points for the Wildcats. Baylor won the rebounding and turnover battles, but allowed Kansas State to shoot 57% from the field. Getting out of conference play for a trip to Florida didn’t improve things for Baylor, as the Gators rolled to an 81-60 victory. The difference in the game was at the 3-point line. The Gators shot an incredible 14-25 from distance, while Baylor shot only 3 of 15. The Bears are still winless on the road this season, and will start next week at Oklahoma before coming back to Waco to face Iowa State.
TCU HORNED FROGS (15-6, 3-5 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): W-West Virginia 82-73, L-@ Vanderbilt 81-78
This week: Tuesday @ Oklahoma State, Saturday vs. Texas Tech
The Horned Frogs had a very uneven week, gaining their best win of the season and suffering their most embarrassing loss. The week started out with an 82-73 win over the 7th ranked West Virginia Mountaineers. The Frogs picked up their first win at home against a top 10 team in five years. Alex Robinson led the Frogs with 17 points and 9 assists. TCU had a strong defensive performance, tallying 7 blocks and holding West Virginia to 33% from the field. The celebration was short lived, as TCU traveled to Vanderbilt to take on the SEC cellar-dwellers and lost 81-78. The Frogs lost despite shooting 56% from the field and a +15 margin. Vanderbilt made 11 of 25 3-pointers and only had 7 turnovers in the game. TCU travels to Oklahoma State before an important weekend matchup with Texas Tech.
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (17-4, 5-3 BIG XII)
Last week (2-0): W-Oklahoma State 75-70, W-@ South Carolina 70-63
This week: Wednesday vs. Texas, Saturday @ TCU
Texas Tech got back on track after dropping three out of four with back to back wins last week. First, they took a 75-70 win against Oklahoma State. Keenan Evans had 26 points, 22 in the 2nd half, to lead the Red Raiders to a comeback victory. The Red Raiders trailed by 15 points at one point and battled back to outscore the Cowboys by 17 in the second half. Tech, who has been great at limiting opponent shooting percentages, allowed a strong 46% from OSU, but forced 20 turnovers in the victory. Evans and the Raiders weren’t done with comeback wins. They trailed South Carolina by five with six minutes left, and came back to win 70-63. Evans scored 31 points in the win, including going 13 of 13 from the free throw line. Tech came up big defensively in the last few minutes, as South Carolina only made 1 of its last 7 field goal attempts.
SMU MUSTANGS (15-7, 5-4 AAC)
Last week (1-1): L-Connecticut 63-52, W-East Carolina 86-61
This week: Thursday @ Tulsa
SMU lost Jarrey Foster for the season to a knee injury last week. He was the team’s leading rebounder and 2nd leading scorer. Freshman Everett Ray is also done for the season with a broken foot. The shorthanded Mustangs felt their absence against Connecticut, falling to the Huskies 63-52. Shake Milton led the Mustangs with 18 points. The Mustangs shot just 28% from the field. That was not the case against ECU. The Ponies shot 62% from the field en route to an 86-61 thrashing of the Pirates. Jimmy Whitt and Jahmal McMurray put up 20 points a piece in the victory. SMU has just one game next week, a road tilt against Tulsa.
LSU TIGERS (12-8, 3-5 SEC)
Last week (1-1): W-Texas A&M 77-65, L-@ Auburn 95-70
This week: Wednesday @ Tennessee, Saturday vs. Arkansas
LSU was able to take advantage of the struggling Texas A&M Aggies, taking a 77-65 victory in their matchup. Duop Reath scored 21 and Tremont Waters scored 15 with 9 assists and 8 steals in the win, which snapped a 3-game losing streak for the Tigers. LSU defended the three point line well, allowing Texas A&M to shoot only 21% from deep. The Tigers forced 20 turnovers in the win. Waters could only muster 4 points against Auburn, and LSU lost the battle of the Tigers 95-70. Reath was dominant for LSU, scoring 18 points, but didn’t get enough help to make the game close. LSU was -14 in rebounding against Auburn. The Tigers go to Tennessee and get a home matchup with Arkansas this week.
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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.