Texas A&M Loses Heartbreaker to Houston

The No. 9 seed Texas A&M Aggies lost an overtime thriller to No. 1 seeded Houston on Sunday in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, 100-95.

Final in Memphis. pic.twitter.com/DojPhDhU6H

— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) March 25, 2024

With the loss, the SEC is now just 5-6 in the tournament. The conference started with eight teams in the Big Dance. However, heading into the second weekend, only Alabama and Tennessee remain.

Aggies Force OT

It was a back-and-forth affair through the first twenty minutes of the game. At halftime, Houston (32-4) led 43-38 over Texas A&M (21-15).

Houston maintained a multi-possession lead through most of the second half. With 1:51 left, the Cougars had a 12 point lead over A&M, 81-69.

https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1772101346449072439

Through a series of defensive stops and missed free throws by Houston, A&M had the ball with 20.3 seconds left, trailing 86-83.

With their season on the line, junior Wade Taylor IV pushed the ball down the court, settling for an off-balance floater through contact from seven feet out. Taylor’s shot rattled off the backboard and into the hands of Texas A&M senior Tyrece Radford, who missed the putback layup. Both Houston and A&M sprung towards the rim to grab the rebound, but the Cougars slapped the ball out of bounds.

A&M inbounded the ball with 10.1 seconds remaining. With an opportunity to tie the game, Aggies leading scorer Taylor fired a 33-foot three-pointer from the March Madness logo. The long-shot beamed off the back of the rim into the hands of Taylor. Fading away from the right wing, Taylor’s next three-pointer was an airball, landing in the palms of both Houston’s Ramon Walker Jr. and A&M’s Andersson Garcia.

https://twitter.com/SEC/status/1772103805066252364

1.2 seconds remained and the jump ball went to the Aggies on the far-side of the baseline. Radford’s inbound pass snuck past multiple Houston defenders into the hands of Garcia who launched a straight-away three-pointer to tie the game at 86-86 as the clock expired.

Cougars Close

After Texas A&M closed regulation on a 17-5 run, the Cougars retaliated in overtime. Houston shot 4-8 from the field in the extra period, while holding the Aggies to just 2-7 shooting.

The Cougars 100-95 win advanced the program to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth straight season.

Aggies head coach Buzz Williams acknowledged the Cougars’ overtime scoring surge. However, he didn’t notice a difference in his team’s defense between regulation and OT.

The two Texas teams faced off earlier this season in December. The Cougars won the game 70-66. Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson recognized A&M’s improvement throughout the season.

Looking forward, Houston plays No. 4-seeded Duke (26-8) Friday night in American Airlines Arena for a spot in the Elite 8.