Texas A&M basketball falls to Cougars in hard-fought, overtime contest

Texas A&M basketball vs. Houston: First half recap

Things started off between Texas A&M basketball and Houston just like the slugfest we all expected. The Aggies notched a sweet bucket by Manny Obaseki early, but Emmanuel Sharp hit a second-chance three to take a narrow lead. The Aggies began to leverage their physicality, however, by drawing fouls down by the basket on their next two possessions, resulting in 3-of-4 from the line between Leveque and Washington. Sharp hit another trey to take a small lead, but Radford answered quickly. A 1-of-2 by the Cougars was the only score from that point before the first media timeout, with the game tied at 7 and Radford headed to the line.

More gritty play resulted in several trips to the line for the Aggies, portending good things for later on. The Aggies were drawing a lot of contact in the lane with their drives and defending well against the three ball on the opposite end. Obaseki hit a three to break a tie at 13 with under 12 minutes to go for his first deep shot of the game. A quick bucket by Shead and a goaltend in transition gave the Cougars a one-point lead at the second media timeout, however.

Houston began to put some offense together over the next stretch, much to the chagrin of Texas A&M basketball fans. Emmanuel Sharp hit his third 3 of the game to take a seven point lead before the third media timeout, but the return from commercial would once again be to Aggie free throws, as Solo drew contact before the break.

It was another regrettable 0-of-2 for Solo at the line, but he recorded a MONSTER block in transition to spark the Aggies for a quick 4-0 run. A live-ball turnover by Radford resulted in another Sharp three-pointer to build the lead back to 6 points, however, leading to a Buzz Williams timeout.

Andersson Garcia’s relentless effort down low earned him an and-one opportunity out of the timeout. He converted to cut the lead to three, and another great effort down low—this time by Coleman—earned yet another trip to the line for the Aggies. Henry went 1-of-2 to make it 30-28 Houston. On the other end, Garcia was pushed in the back. The Aggies, in the double bonus, got two free throws, and Andy tied it with two makes. A&M and Houston traded buckets, and yet another foul by Houston brought a media timeout with 3:15 to go.

Andy went 1-of-2 from the line to give the Aggies the narrowest of leads—one that quickly evaporated after a late-clock layup by Houston on the opposite end. Manny went o-fer at the line on the ensuing possession, fouling Shead on defense for an and-one opportunity, which he converted to give the Cougs a 4-point lead. Houston rolled out a zone that was dissected by the Aggies twice in a row, including a huge jam by Manny, but Houston was scoring it well themselves on the opposite end. The halftime break came with the Aggies trailing by five, but Wade Taylor only had one point.