COLLEGE BASKETBALL REPORT
NCAA hoops: Texas Tech keeps rolling along; A&M bounces back
Feb 5, 2018, 2:55 am
Keenan Evans and Tech went 2-0 last week. Texastech.com
TEXAS LONGHORNS (15-8, 5-5 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): L-@ Texas Tech 73-71 OT, W-Oklahoma 79-74
This week: Wednesday vs. Kansas State, Saturday @ TCU
Texas had a chance to make this a massive week, but it started with them coming up just short on the road against the top-10 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders. Keenan Evans hit a shot at the buzzer to give Tech the 73-71 victory in overtime. The game had two consistent factors throughout: Evans was going to be amazing and the Horns were going to struggle from the line. In a tightly called game that saw 52 foul whistles, the Horns shot only 13-of-26 from the charity stripe in the loss. Kerwin Roach led the Horns in scoring with 20, while Mohamed Bamba had a 12 point, 10 rebound, 7 block performance. Texas was back at home on Saturday to face Oklahoma and their freshman sensation, Trae Young, who came in averaging over 30 points per game. Luckily for Texas, Young wasn’t himself, and scored only 19 on 7-of-22 shooting. The Sooners struggled from 3-point range, going only 3-of-22 from deep. Freshman Matt Coleman led the Horns with 22 points in the win. Texas gets a solid Kansas State squad at home before hitting the road again to face TCU.
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (15-8, 4-6 SEC)
Last week (2-0): W-Arkansas 80-66, W-South Carolina 83-60
This week: Wednesday @ Auburn, Saturday vs. Kentucky
Texas A&M, on life support a week ago, may have taken a breath this week. They started out with a dominant win over Arkansas, 80-66. The Aggies took advantage of an Arkansas team that struggles mightily on the road, led by freshman point guard TJ Starks, who put up 16 points and 5 assists in the win. All five Aggies were in double digits scoring, and as a team they dominated the glass by a 45-30 margin. The Aggies kept the momentum going against South Carolina, getting another balanced offensive attack in an 83-60 victory. Admon Gilder led the Ags with 15 and Robert Williams was perfect from the field en route to an 11 point, 9 rebound, 5 block performance. The Aggies were brilliant defensively, holding the Gamecocks under 28% shooting for the day. This week will be huge for A&M’s tourney hopes, as they have a trip to Auburn and a home game with Kentucky on the schedule.
HOUSTON COUGARS (17-5, 7-3 AAC)
Last week (1-1): L-@ Cincinnati 80-70, W-@ UCF 69-65
This week: Thursday vs. SMU, Sunday vs. Tulane
Houston looked on its way to a massive road win that would have broken the nation’s longest home winning streak and all but locked up a bit in March Madness, but a furious Cincinnati comeback knocked the Cougars off by a score of 80-70. The Cougars led by 18 points in the 1st half, but gave nearly all of that lead away before halftime. Rob Gray, who led the AAC in scoring with 18.7 points per game, struggled to 9 points on 4-of-15 shooting. Corey Davis, Jr. led the Cougars with 18 points. Gray bounced back on Saturday, scoring 20 in a 69-65 win at Central Florida. UCF pushed for a comeback in the second half, but the Coogs stiffened late and held off the charge. The Cougars are back at home against SMU and Tulane this week.
RICE OWLS (5-18, 2-8 CUSA)
Last week (0-1): L-@ North Texas 74-70
This week: Thursday @ Middle Tennessee, Saturday vs. UAB
Rice lost its only game of the week, dropping a 74-70 decision at North Texas. Rice led by nine with under 9 minutes to play, but couldn’t hold off the Mean Green. Once again, turnovers were the culprit, as the Owls had a -10 turnover margin. Connor Cashaw led the Owls with 18 points in the loss. Rice will hit the road to take on conference-leading Middle Tennessee before returning home to take on UAB.
BAYLOR BEARS (13-10, 3-7 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): L-@ Oklahoma 98-96, W-Iowa State 81-67
This week: Tuesday @ Oklahoma State, Saturday vs. Kansas
Baylor had no answer for Trae Young, and the freshman scored 44 points in a 98-96 Oklahoma win. Manu Lecomte was strong for Baylor in the loss, scoring 29 points including seven 3-pointers. Nuni Omot was 6-of-6 from deep for the Bears as part of his 23 points. Young dominated though, including a 16 of 19 performance from the free throw line. He also had nine assists for the Sooners. Baylor was able to snap their four game losing streak against Iowa State, taking an 81-67 win over the Cyclones. Terry Maston led the Bears with a career-high 23 points in the win. The game was back and forth in the first half, but Baylor took control in the second half and never looked back. After the 3-point shot was so kind to Baylor against Oklahoma, it failed them against Iowa State. The Bears had to focus their attack on the inside, as they shot only 2-14 from deep. The Bears travel to Oklahoma State in search of their first road win of the season this week before heading back home to take on Kansas.
TCU HORNED FROGS (16-7, 4-6 BIG XII)
Last week (1-1): W-@Oklahoma State 79-66, L-Texas Tech 83-71
This week: Tuesday @ Kansas, Saturday vs. Texas
The Horned Frogs picked up their second road win of the season, and their first since Jan. 2, with a 79-66 win at Oklahoma State on Tuesday. The Frogs shot the lights out, going 56% from the field and 67% from distance in the win. Kenrich Williams and Alex Robinson led the Frogs with 13 points each in the win, and TCU had five players in double digits for the game. The good fortune did not follow the Horned Frogs home, as they were blown off the court by Texas Tech 83-71. The final score was closer than the game. The Frogs trailed by 24 at half and were never close in the 2nd half. Vladimir Brodziansky led TCU with 18 points and 3 blocks in the loss. TCU will likely have 3 more shots to get a road win over a ranked team, and the first chance comes Tuesday at Kansas. The Frogs go home on Saturday to take on Texas.
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (19-4, 7-3 BIG XII)
Last week (2-0): W-Texas 73-71 (OT), W-@ TCU 83-71
This week: Wednesday vs. Iowa State, Saturday @ Kansas State
Texas Tech has worked its way into a 1st place tie in the Big 12 with another 2-0 week. The Raiders started off with a 73-71 overtime win over Texas that was essentially the Keenan Evans show. Evans had a career high 38 points on 9-13 shooting and 18-20 free throw shooting in the victory. He also hit the game winner as time expired in overtime. No other player for the Red Raiders had more than 3 made field goals in the win. The Raiders kept their momentum rolling against TCU, taking an 83-71 win over the Frogs. Evans put up 17 in the win, and Jarrett Culver led the Red Raiders with 20. Texas Tech gets Big 12 cellar-dweller Iowa State at home before hitting the road to take on Kansas State.
SMU MUSTANGS (15-8, 5-8 AAC)
Last week (0-1): L-@ Tulsa 76-67
This week: Thursday @ Houston, Sunday vs. Cincinnati
SMU played just once this week, and suffered a damaging blow, falling 76-67 at Tulsa. SMU played without Shake Milton, and struggled from the field without him, shooting 38% from the field and 33% from three. Ben Emelogu led the Mustangs in scoring, putting up 24 points in the loss. The Mustangs find themselves firmly on the bubble for March, and have a rough week ahead of them with a road trip to Houston and a home game against Cincinnati.
LSU TIGERS (13-9, 4-6 SEC)
Last week (1-1): L-@ Tennessee 84-61, W-Arkansas 94-86
This week: Wednesday @ Florida, Saturday vs. Ole Miss
LSU lost for the fifth time in six games, dropping an 84-61 game at Tennessee. LSU suspended two players before the game, and had only seven scholarship players available. Duop Reath led the Tigers with 21 points. Tremont Waters struggled mightily, going only 1-of-9 from the field in the loss. The Tigers were only 3-19 from long range in the game. Waters was much better against Arkansas, putting up 27 in a 94-68 LSU win. The 3-point shooting woes were gone at home as well, as the Tigers hit 15-30 from deep against the Razorbacks. LSU gets a road trip to Florida and a home matchup against Ole Miss in the coming 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.