OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 10 seed Texas A&M men’s basketball team closed out its season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to No. 2 seed Houston, 88-57, Saturday evening at the Paycom Center.
 
The loss caps a 22-win season in year one for Bucky McMillian, who became just the second coach in school history to win an NCAA Tournament game in his first year in Aggieland.
 
Houston (30-6) struck first in the game, but the Aggies responded with eight straight points, including 3-pointers from Pop Isaacs and Rubén Dominguez. Things remained close for much of the half as neither team led by more than seven points.
 

A&M (22-12) cut the difference to one when Zach Clemence connected on a shot from beyond the arc, 25-24, with 7:43 on the clock. The Cougars responded, closing out the opening period on a 21-4 run to take a 46-28 lead into the break. Houston had 12 offensive rebounds in the first half and outscored the Aggies 16-8 in the paint.
 

The Cougars scored the first eight points of the new period to extend their lead to 26. The Maroon & White continued to attack but were unable to get closer than 22 the rest of the way. 
 
Josh Holloway paced the Aggies’ offense with 12 points, while Jamie Vinson led the way on the boards with six and Clemence added five.
 
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES


Texas A&M closed out the year scoring 2,927 points, setting a new program single-season record and topping the previous mark of 2,908 from the 2021-22 season.
The Maroon & White saw 31 points come from their bench, marking the 19th time this year 30-or-more points have been scored by non-starters.
Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Marcus Hill, Pop Isaacs, Rylan Griffen, Rashaun Agee and Rubén Dominguez for the second time this season (1-1).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
#1 Josh Holloway


Earned his sixth double-digit scoring game of the season with 12 points.
Led the team in scoring for the first time this year.

#4 Jamie Vinson


Led the team in rebounding for the second time this season with six.

#9 Rubén Dominguez


Hit one 3-pointer tonight to increase his season total to 86, tying him at second on A&M’s single-season list with Josh Carter (06-07).