By RENALDO DORSETT
Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
IT was “Texas-sized” night of upsets Tuesday night, involving a pair of Bahamian players at the NCAA Division I level with some of the top programmes in the state.
Danrad Knowles and his Houston Cougars defeated the No.12 SMU Mustangs 71-68 while Shaquille Cleare and the Texas Longhorns topped the No. 15 Baylor Bears 67-59.
The junior forward finished with just two points and two rebounds in 17 minutes as the Cougars won their third game in a row following a four-game losing streak.
In the previous matchup against SMU on January 19, Knowles fouled out with 14 points and eight rebounds in a 77-73 loss.
With increased playing time over the past four games and prior to Monday night’s contest, Knowles averaged 12 points and 7.5 rebounds in just over 30 minutes per game.
On the season he has posted averages of 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
Trailing 49-38 with just under 16 minutes remaining, Houston responded with the 21-4 run over the next eight minutes. SMU opened the second half with an 8-2 spurt to open up a 47-36 with 17:26 remaining before the Cougars stormed back.
Houston shot 55 per cent in the second half and 46 per cent for the game.
“There were a lot of turning points in the game,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “When we got down 11, it was our fight. That is a part of our identity. Our kids stay together. They don’t back down. Our core values of our programme will be on the defensive end, the rebounding part. We are a great offensive rebounding team, not good, great. We are top 20 in the nation, and there are 351 of those teams and we are really good at that. We have four guys that can offensive rebound. Devonta (Pollard), (Danrad) “Chicken” (Knowles), LeRon (Barnes), (Damyean) Dotson, and Bertrand (Nkali).”
Next up for the Cougars, they face the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes 2pm on February 7.
For the Longhorns, they again solidified their reputation as a team that thrives on pulling off upsets against higher ranked teams.
Texas improved to 4-1 this year in games against AP Top 20 opponents, including a 2-1 mark in true road games against AP Top 15 opponents.
Cleare finished with five points and three rebounds in 11 minutes.
The Longhorns have now won six of its last seven games, with its lone loss in the stretch coming at No.3 Kansas.
Texas had 21 assists, two short of their season high of 23.
The Longhorns posted an 18-7 advantage in points off turnovers and 20-7 in bench scoring.
It’s been a season of ebbs and flows for Cleare and his first year with the programme and his first year under head coach Shaka Smart.
After opening the season at 2-3, the Longhorns reeled off six consecutive wins before losing three out of four games in a 12-day span. They then followed by winning six out of their next seven.
Cleare, averaging 3.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game on the season, said the team has remained grounded through the process.
“We don’t worry about outsiders, they can’t win us games. If you buy into what others are saying you will start to fall off. They don’t know the grind behind the scenes, that’s why coach Smart engrained in us to stay connected and worry about our circle. We just worry about the things we can control and that’s our team growing and becoming better as the season goes on.”
The Longhorns host the Texas Tech Red Raiders 2pm February 6.
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