HEAD OF THE CLASS
Houston debuts in Big 12 with 3 remarkable achievements
Mar 13, 2024, 2:46 pm
The Cougars didn't skip a beat after changing conferences. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
Houston had no problem adjusting to the Big 12, going right to the top in its new conference.
Cougars senior point guard Jamal Shead was named The Associated Press Big 12 player of the year Tuesday and Kelvin Sampson the league's top coach. The nation's No. 1 team wrapped up its first regular season in the Big 12 by winning the outright conference championship; Houston (28-3) won the American Athletic title the last two years.
Kansas senior center Hunter Dickinson, the 7-foot-2 transfer from Michigan who was voted the Big 12's top newcomer, and Shead were unanimous AP first-team picks as determined by a panel of 17 journalists who cover the league. Three graduates rounded out the first team, Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr., and Texas teammates Dylan Disu and Max Abmas.
Shead is averaging 13.2 points, 6.2 assists and 2.3 steals a game for the Cougars and is the only player ranked in the top 20 nationally for assists, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.14 to 1). He got 16 votes for AP top player, and Dickinson got one.
“A point guard’s greatest statistic is did his team win, and Jamal cares more about winning than any individual statistic," Sampson said. "In my 35 years, he is the greatest leader I have ever coached.”
Dickinson is the only Big 12 player averaging a double-double, at 18.0 points and 10.8 rebounds a game and leads the league making 55% of his field goals. He got 15 first-place votes for top newcomer; Oral Roberts transfer Abmas (16.8 ppg) got the other two.
Sampson got nine votes for coach of the year, and T.J. Otzelberger from Big 12 runner-up and seventh-ranked Iowa State got six. The remaining votes were split by Texas Tech's Grant McCasland and BYU's Mark Pope.
FIRST TEAM
u-Center — Hunter Dickinson, Kansas, 7-2, 260, Sr., Alexandria, Virginia.
u-Guard — Jamal Shead, Houston, 6-1, 200, Sr., Manor, Texas.
Guard — Max Abmas, Texas, 6-0, 175, Gr., Rockwall, Texas.
Guard — Kevin McCullar Jr., Kansas, 6-7, 212, Gr., San Antonio, Texas.
Forward — Dylan Disu, Texas, 6-9, 225, Gr., Pflugerville, Texas.
—“u-” denotes unanimous selection.
SECOND TEAM
Guard — L.J. Cryer, Houston, 6-1, 200, Sr., Katy, Texas.
Guard — RayJ Dennis, Baylor, 6-2, 180, Sr., Plainview, Illinois.
Guard — Pop Isaacs, Texas Tech, 6-2, 180, So., Las Vegas.
Guard — Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State, 6-1, 200, So., Ames, Iowa.
Forward — Emanuel Miller, TCU, 6-7, 215, Sr., Scarborough, Ontario.
___
Coach of the year — Kelvin Sampson, Houston.
Player of the year — Jamal Shead, Houston.
Newcomer of the year — Hunter Dickinson, Kansas.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.