Texas A&M bounces back with rout of Depaul
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams beefed up the Aggies’ nonconference schedule this season, and part of that beefing included adding a program with an oldschool name for basketball.
Depaul hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in 20 years as part of the hoops-happy Big East Conference, but the Blue Demons still represent an upgrade from a handful of A&M’S nonconference opponents last year. The Aggies, too, continue to look like an upgrade from last year.
No. 21 A&M swatted Depaul 89-64 on Wednesday night in Reed Arena, as the 7-2 Aggies reto bounded from one of past one of their rare setbacks this season, a 59-47 loss at Virginia on Nov. 29.
The Aggies made more 3-pointers (11 of 18) in the first half than the 1-7 Blue Demons made total field goals (10 of 20).
Brent Zwerneman
NO. 3. HOUSTON 75 RICE 39
L.J. Cryer had 15 points and Emanuel Sharp added 12 as the third-ranked Cougars built a 16-point lead and cruised to a victory over the Owls at home.
Houston is off to a 9-0 start for the second consecutive season and fifth time in school history.
Down 9-8 after a 3pointer by Rice’s Mekhi Mason, the Cougars responded with a 22-4 run take control. The Owls had 18 points at halftime, the fifth time in nine games this season that Houston has held an opponent below 20 points in the first half.
Joseph Duarte
NO. 8 MARQUETTE 86 NO. 12 TEXAS 65
Tyler Kolek had 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Golden Eagles drubbed the Longhorns in a Big East-big 12 Battle matchup in Milwaukee.
Kam Jones added 17 points for Marquette (7-2), which rebounded from a 75-64 loss Saturday at in-state rival Wisconsin and gave coach Shaka Smart a win against his former team.
Max Abmas led Texas (6-2) with 25 points.
Women NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 104 MORGAN STATE 38
Tessa Johnson had a career-high 16 points and Milaysia Fulwiley scored 14 as the Gamecocks made easy work of the overmatched Bears in Columbia, S.C.
South Carolina improved to 8-0 for the third straight season.
NO. 4 IOWA 67 IOWA STATE 58
Caitlin Clark scored 35 points but it was her passing that helped the Hawkeyes pull away from the rival Cyclones in Ames, Iowa.
Iowa (9-1) was trailing 55-54 midway through the fourth quarter, before Clark made a pair of nifty assists to Kate Martin, who converted them into layups that gave Iowa a 60-56 lead with just over 3 minutes remaining.
Clark added a layup of her own to extend the margin to 62-56 with about 2 minutes to play.
NO. 5 TEXAS 106 LONG BEACH STATE 62
Taylor Jones scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds and the Longhorns defeated the 49ers in Austin to continue their undefeated start to the season.
Rori Harmon scored 17 points and made six steals for Texas (10-0). Backup guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half. Madison Booker led Texas with seven assists, and she made three steals.