Houston is pushed to the brink
Cougars survive OT, earn spot in Sweet 16
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Emanuel Sharp started overtime with a 3-pointer that put Houston ahead to stay as the top-seeded Cougars advanced to the Sweet 16 by topping No. 9 seed Texas A&M 100-95 on Sunday night.
The Aggies forced overtime with a furious rally, outscoring Houston 17-5 in the final two minutes of regulation. Andersson Garcia beat the buzzer with his ninth 3-pointer of the season, and then was mobbed by his teammates.
“The last two minutes was Murphy’s Law,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “We kept missing some free throws. The ball was bouncing all over the place. They didn’t miss a 3. And they didn’t make an easy one.”
Sharp fouled out after his 3, finishing with 30 points. His teammates outscored Texas A&M 7-1 to start the extra session and closed it out.
The win by Houston (32-4) means all eight teams seeded 1 and 2 advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time since the NCAA tournament started seeding in 1979. The top eight seeds also advanced in 2019, 2009, 1995 and 1989.
The Cougars will play Duke on Friday in Dallas in the South Region semifinals. This will be Houston’s fifth straight Sweet 16 and 16th alltime.
They are playing in part for Reggie Chaney, a forward who was part of Houston’s Final Four team in 2021, who died in August at the age of 23. Chaney’s No. 32 is on a patch on Houston jerseys, and Sampson said at halftime he asked his Cougars what would Chaney do in this game.
“That was for big Reg,” Sampson said.
Jamal Shead had 21 points and 10 assists for Houston. He was one of four Cougars who fouled out.
Shead mentioned how Sampson talked about how hard Chaney would have played, pointing to the 32 on his jersey.
“We’re built for this,” Shead said. “I just miss my dog. On to the Sweet 16.”
Texas A&M (21-15) was trying to make the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2018 in its second straight NCAA Tournament under coach Buzz Williams. The Aggies had been 6-1 in March only to revert to the team that struggled offensively much of the season.
The Cougars represented the Big 12 in their first season in the conference by adding to the Southeastern Conference’s misery. Only Tennessee advanced to the Sweet 16 out of the SEC’S eight teams in this tournament.
L.J. Cryer added 20 points, and J’wan Roberts fought through a knee issue with 13.
Taylor missed his first seven shots and finished with 21 points on 5-of-25 shooting, including 3 of 13 beyond the arc.
Tyrece Radford, who missed the December loss to Houston, had 27 points. Manny Obaseki added 15 before fouling out, and Garcia had 12.