March Madness thriller in 2024.<\/a><\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
With the season on the line, and possibly some Texas pride as well, Saturday’s\u00a0matchup has the potential to be another legendary meeting in the historic rivalry.<\/p>\n
Will Texas A&M advance to the Sweet 16 against last year’s national runner-up? Here are three things to know about the Cougars, plus a prediction of Texas A&M vs. Houston:<\/p>\n
Houston leaning on suffocating defensive effort<\/p>\n
Much like Saint Mary’s in Round 1, the Aggies are preparing to face another team fueled by a strong defensive effort. Houston enters the Round of 32 matchup as the top defensive team in the Big 12, allowing just 62.4 points per game.<\/p>\n
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The Cougars have held opponents to 39.7% shooting from the field (third in conference), 31.6% beyond the arc (fifth in conference) and average 33.5 rebounds per game (sixth in conference).\u00a0Houston has held teams under 70 points 24 times this season, and has kept teams under 50 six times.<\/p>\n
Thursday, the Cougars held Idaho to 47 points, forcing it to shoot just 28.6% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n
Pair of guards leading way for Cougs’<\/p>\n
It’s not just defensive play that has Houston performing well; it’s also a duo in the backcourt who are making shots and creating plays that are uplifting the Cougars as well.<\/p>\n
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The duo of freshman Kingston Flemings and senior Emanuel Sharp has been outstanding for Houston, averaging 16.4 and 15.3 points per game, respectively.<\/p>\n
Flemings, a San Antonio native, has eclipsed 20 points 12 times this season, including scoring 42 against Texas Tech in January. The 6-foot-4 scorer put up 18 Thursday, shooting 8-for-12 from the field, collecting six rebounds and four assists.<\/p>\n
Sharp was equally impressive against Idaho, scoring 16 points while shooting 6-for-7 from the field and 3-for-3 from three-point range. The 6-foot-3 playmaker has scored 20 or more points four times since conference play began, including a season-high 27 points against Utah in February.<\/p>\n
Houston looking to continue impressive history<\/p>\n
Under Kelvin Sampson, Houston has been one of the best teams in the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars’ head coach has led the program to the NCAA Tournament\u00a0eight times in 12 years, including two Final Four appearances. Sampson and the Cougars have made it to the Sweet 16 for\u00a0the last five seasons and six out of the last seven years.<\/p>\n
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In 2024, nine-seed A&M and one-seed Houston faced off in the Round of 32 in Memphis, Tenn., with the Cougars edging out the Aggies in overtime, 100-95.<\/p>\n
Former A&M forward and current Utah Jazz player, Andersson Garcia, tied the game with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. However, Houston\u00a0scored 14 points in the overtime period to beat A&M and advance to the Sweet 16. The Cougars lost the next weekend to Duke, 54-51.<\/p>\n
Texas A&M basketball vs Houston prediction<\/p>\n
Houston, 72-70. Regardless of what happens Saturday, A&M’s first season under Bucky McMillan should be viewed positively. Winning a tournament game with a roster featuring just one returning player is\u00a0encouraging for the future. Still, Houston isn’t in this for feel-good moments; they’re a serious opponent eager to return to the Final Four for consecutive seasons. If the Aggies get hot from beyond the arc and maintain a defensive effort like they did Thursday, they’ll have a chance. But the Cougars are a giant in the sport right now.<\/p>\n
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Reach Texas A&M beat reporter Tony Catalina via email at Anthony.Catalina@statesman.com.s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 What could be better than two Lone Star State rivals facing off\u00a0Saturday for the right…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2692,44557,48876,3112,5277,27,16771,6095,29,28],"class_list":["post-213181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-college-basketball","tag-houston-cougars-basketball","tag-march-madness","tag-ncaa-tournament","tag-sec-basketball","tag-texas","tag-texas-a-m-aggies-men-s-basketball","tag-texas-am-basketball","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}