The No. 10 seed Texas A&M Aggies had a sound 63-50 win over the No. 7 Saint Mary’s Gaels Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but now the real fun begins against an opponent they know all too well, the No. 2 Houston Cougars.
The Aggies and Cougars meet on the court in the Round of 32 for the second time in three years, a sequel to their barn burner in the 2024 tournament on deck.
Houston also left no doubt that they would be moving on in their first-round matchup, defeating the No. 15 Idaho Vandals 78-47 Thursday night.
Aggies vs. Cougars, Round of 32
Texas A&M Aggies guard Wade Taylor IV (4) controls the ball against Houston Cougars guard Jamal Shead (1) and guard Mylik Wilson (8) in overtime in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at FedExForum. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
The 2024 NCAA Tournament matched the two Lone Star schools against each other, with No. 9 seed Texas A&M facing the No. 1 seed Cougars.
Despite being down 13 points with a little under four minutes, the Maroon and White were able to crawl back, and using the momentum, Andersson Garcia nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime.
The Aggies fought valiantly in overtime, but in the end, it was Kelvin Sampson’s team that came out on top with the 100-95 win.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5:10 PM, and be sure to check back here at game time for live updates and the box score as the game progresses from Oklahoma City.
Box Score
1st Half
2nd Half
Texas A&M
28
5
Houston
46
10
1st Half
15:11, Texas A&M 10, Houston 9
The Aggies sink two threes right off the bat and Rashaun Agee throws down a dunk to give Texas A&M an early lead.
10:53, Houston 17, Texas A&M 13
The Aggies endure a two-minute scornig drought and now find themselves at a deficit.
8:37, Houston 25, Texas A&M 21
Texas A&M gives the Cougars some free points after Bucky McMillan gets a technical foul and Ruben Dominguez draws a flagrant 1 foul.
4:16, Houston 35, Texas A&M 24
The Aggies have yet to score a point in the past three and a half minutes, missing their last six shots, while the Cougars have gone on a 10-0 run.
Halftime, Houston 46, Texas A&M 28
After a five-minute scoring drought, Pop Isaacs is able to sink a pair of free throws and Rylan Griffen puts in a layup, but the Aggies now face an almost 20-point deficit.
2nd Half
15:53, Houston 56, Texas A&M 33
The same offensive struggles in the first half have carried their way over to the second half for Texas A&M, meanwhile the Cougars simply cannot miss right now.