COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: No. 21 Houston holds out USF
Published 11:31 pm Saturday, January 19, 2019
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Kelvin Sampson struggled to find appropriate words to describe a truly ugly game.
There were 32 turnovers, 62 fouls, 76 free throws attempted, 32 percent shooting by one team and slightly over 40 percent for the other.
“Not aesthetically pleasing,” Sampson said after No. 21 Houston held off South Florida 69-60 on Saturday night. “I felt bad that people had to watch that.”
Breaon Brady had 13 points and nine rebounds, Armoni Brooks scored 11 points and Nate Hinton added 10 to lead the Cougars (18-1, 5-1 American Athletic Conference), who squandered most of a 16-point second-half lead before pulling away for good over the last 10 minutes.
David Collins led South Florida (12-6, 2-4) with 23 points, 21 of them after halftime. Alexis Yetna scored 12, none in the second half.
“Two teams playing hard, competing,” Sampson said, adding that his team’s depth likely was the difference. “We had just enough bodies to get through.”
Houston limited USF to 23.8 percent shooting (5 for 21) in the first half and finished the period on a 16-6 run to open a 35-25 lead. The Cougars built the advantage to 16 before Collins scored six points over a two-minute stretch to help the Bulls whittle their deficit to 47-43 with 10:38 remaining.
Brison Gresham’s three-point play and Galen Robinson’s first points of the night on a short jumper settled the Cougars, who methodically built the lead back to double-digits. Collins made three free throws to make it a six-point game before Houston closed it out from the foul line.
“I think we did some good things, but not enough to beat a team like that,” South Florida coach Brian Gregory said.
Texas 75, No. 20 Oklahoma 72
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas senior guard Kerwin Roach II played like he had a lot to make up for.
He did. And he delivered.
So did the Longhorns with a tough 75-72 win over rival No. 20 Oklahoma on Saturday night that keeps Texas near the top of the standings in what is looking like a wild season in the Big 12.
Roach scored 23 points in a rebound effort after a loss at Kansas in which he got out of position on the final play and the game was lost with a wild shot at the end. Against Oklahoma, Roach attacked early and delivered late with baskets that rallied Texas when it looked like the Sooners would pull away.
“It’s definitely a game to get back on track,” Roach said. “Any win is an atonement game.”
The Longhorns (11-7, 3-3) snapped a three-game skid.
Dylan Osetkowski scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Matt Coleman III scored 15 points and Jaxson Hayes scored 15 points and had a career-high five blocks.
James scored 20 points for the Sooners (13-5, 2-4). Rashard Odomes and Bieniemy each scored 11 points for Oklahoma.
Baylor 73, No. 8 Texas Tech 62
WACO (AP) — Freshman guard Jared Butler was a late arrival at Baylor. The top recruit originally chose Alabama and began last summer there, before he got his release, and a waiver to play somewhere else this season.
Butler is now starting and getting comfortable in the Big 12.
“He was fearless, played with courage, looked like he was having a lot of fun out there,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said.
Butler scored 19 points, 14 of them after halftime, and had five assists with only one turnover as Baylor beat the No. 8 Red Raiders 73-62 on Saturday, handing Tech its second loss in four days.
After Texas Tech scored 11 in a row to get within a basket, Butler hit a three-pointer with 4 1/2 minutes left before Tech’s Jarrett Culver then had a short shot roll off the rim no good. Butler then drove for a layup that turned into a three-point play after he was fouled.
“I’ve been playing for so long. I’ve just got to trust my instincts and things like that,” Butler said. “I love playing with these guys. They bring me joy. It was a big game.”
The Red Raiders (15-3, 4-2 Big 12), coming off a home loss to Iowa State on Wednesday night, are still tied for the Big 12 lead after No. 7 Kansas lost earlier Saturday at West Virginia. Iowa State and Kansas State won, creating a four-way tie for the league lead.
Makai Mason added 16 points for Baylor (11-6, 3-2), which beat a Top 10 team for the seventh time in the last three seasons. The Bears are 7-7 in such games during that span.
Culver led the Red Raiders with 19 points and nine rebounds. Brandone Francis had 14 points and Davide Moretti had 13.
After Texas Tech raced out to a 23-10 lead in the first 9 1/2 minutes, Baylor went ahead to stay with a 23-6 run. Four Bears, including Butler, made 3-pointers in that span while Tech went more than 10 1/2 minutes without making a field goal.
Kansas State 65, TCU 55
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Bruce Weber was very confident about his team before the season started, but after a few injuries the season looked shaky.
After a 65-55 win for Kansas State over TCU on Saturday and everyone healthy again, the Wildcats look to be rolling at the right time once again.
“Right now we are hitting our stride and we are playing for each other,” Wade said. “We are playing at an all-time high and have lots of confidence.”
The win marked the Wildcats fourth straight after starting 0-2 in Big 12 play as TCU has now lost three of four.
K-State (14-4, 4-2) led from wire-to-wire for the second straight game as Barry Brown provided 10 points and Kamau Stokes ended with eight in the winning effort.
“It was a good team effort and we did a lot of good things,” Weber said. “We knew they were going to go zone, but I thought we had some good looks and the second half we got the ball where we needed to.”
The Horned Frogs (13-4, 2-3) couldn’t generate much offense with their second leading scorer, Kouat Noi, out with the flu. They were led in scoring by Alex Robinson who had 17 points, Desmond Bane who finished with 16 and JD Miller had 11.
Memphis 83, SMU 61
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Kareem Brewton scored 20 points with a career-high six three-pointers, Raynere Thornton had 11 points and a career-best 14 rebounds for his first double-double this season and Memphis rolled over SMU 83-61 on Saturday.
Brewton scored 15 points in the first half when Memphis (12-6, 4-1 American Athletic) took a 40-23 lead. The Tigers scored the game’s first 13 points, including two Brewton three-pointers, and led throughout.
The lead reached 35 at 74-39 with 6:37 remaining after a 10-0 run capped by a Thornton dunk.
Rebounding was a point of emphasis for the Tigers after being outrebounded by their three previous opponents who collected an average of 19 offensive boards. Against the Mustangs (11-7, 3-3), the Tigers had one more rebound, were even on the offensive glass (12) and had 12 more second-chance points while outscoring SMU 42-18 in the paint. They also made 10 steals and scored 24 points off 21 SMU turnovers in improving to 10-1 at home.
Tyler Harris had four 3-pointers and 14 points, Kyvon Davenport 12 points, Mike Parks 11 and Jeremiah Martin a career-tying 11 assists with eight points.
Jimmy Whitt Jr. scored 12 points and Isiaha Mike 10 for SMU.
Southland Conference scores: Stephen F. Austin 74, Incarnate Word 71; Central Arkansas 74, Nicholls State 68; Southeastern Louisiana 74, McNeese State 71; Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 76, New Orleans 61; Abilene Christian 78, Northwestern State 69; Sam Houston State 71, Houston Baptist 65
WOMEN
No. 11 Texas 73, TCU 67
AUSTIN (AP) — Joyner Holmes scored 17 points, Sug Sutton made four free throws in the final 10 seconds and No. 11 Texas held on for a 73-67 win over TCU on Saturday.
Danni Williams added 15 points for the Longhorns (15-3, 5-1 Big 12), who bounced back from an 18-point loss at Kansas State. Charli Collier, the recent Barbers Hill All-American, had 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and Destiny Littleton 11.
Texas had a 15-point lead late in in the third quarter when Williams nailed a three-pointer, the third-straight possession the Longhorns scored from distance. An 8-0 surge, with Jayde Woods scoring six, helped TCU close within nine entering the fourth quarter.
The Horned Frogs cut it to one twice in the fourth quarter but never had an opportunity to tie or take the lead until forcing a Texas turnover in the final minute trailing 68-65. Sutton stole the ball with 16 seconds left and hit 5 of 6 free throws.
Jordan Moore led TCU (12-5, 2-4) with 20 points and Amy Okonkwo added 18.
Southland Conference scores: McNeese State 62, Southeastern Louisiana 56; Stephen F. Austin 66, Incarnate Word 56; Abilene Christian 72, Northwestern State 63; Nicholls State 64, Central Arkansas 60; Sam Houston State 74, Houston Baptist 63; Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 57, New Orleans 51