No. 1 Houston survives OT upset scare after dramatic buzzer beater from No. 9 Texas A&M with Sweet 16 now set
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — The No. 1 seeded Houston Cougars survived an overtime upset scare in the men’s March Madness after the No. 9 seed Texas A&M Aggies hit a dramatic buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of regulation on Sunday.
Aggies forward Andersson Garcia hit a fadeaway three-point shot as time expired to level the score and send the game to overtime, sparking wild scenes of celebration.
Garcia’s spectacular shot came after the Aggies outscored Houston 17-5 to end regulation, knotting it up at 86-86.
But in overtime, the Cougars showed why they are one of the No. 1 seeds for the tournament, managing to get back on track and outscore the Aggies 14-9 in the additional period of play to close out a 100-95 victory.
“The last two minutes was Murphy’s Law,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson told reporters afterwards, referencing the adage: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
“We kept missing some free throws. The ball was bouncing all over the place. They didn’t miss a three. And they didn’t make an easy one. They were all hard threes.”
Houston guard Emanuel Sharp had a game-high 30 points before picking up his fifth foul in overtime and fouling out of the game. He was one of four Cougars players to foul out.
The Cougars’ journey in this year’s March Madness is made even more poignant following the death of its former star Reggie Chaney in August aged 23.
Chaney had been part of Houston’s run to the Final Four in 2021. His No. 32 is displayed on each player’s jersey and, after the team’s dramatic overtime victory on Sunday, guard Jamal Shead explained how head coach Sampson called on his players to remember Chaney and battle in his memory.
“We’re built for this,” Shead said. “I just miss my dog. On to the Sweet 16.”
Houston’s victory means all eight teams seeded 1 and 2 advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time since the NCAA tournament began seeding in 1979.
Sunday’s action also meant that the round of 16 is now set, with some mouthwatering clashes on the horizon.
Here is the full set of games for the Sweet 16 of the 2024 men’s March Madness (all times in ET):
Thursday, March 28
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 6 Clemson – 7:09 p.m. on CBS
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 5 San Diego State – 7:39 p.m. on TBS/truTV
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Alabama – 9:39 p.m. on CBS
No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 3 Illinois, 10:09 p.m. on TBS/truTV
Friday, March 29
No. 2 Marquette vs. No. 11 NC State, 7:09 p.m. on CBS
No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 5 Gonzaga – 7:39 p.m. on TBS/truTV
No. 1 Houston vs. No. 4 Duke – 9:39 p.m. on CBS
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Creighton – 10:09 p.m. on TBS/truTV
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