The No. 1-seed Houston Cougars entered the 2024 NCAA Tournament with many believing the program could go deep in the Big Dance. Houston basketball's run nearly came to a crushing end Sunday night when they had to sweat it out against the No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies in what ultimately resulted in a 100-95 overtime victory for the first-year Big 12 program.
Houston basketball, known for its stout defense, struggled to suppress the repeated attacks of the Aggies in part because the Cougars dealt with foul troubles to their key players.
In the end, Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson felt proud of how his squad managed to successfully navigate through the game despite having four players, namely, Jamal Shead, L.J. Cryer, Ja'Vier Francis, and Emanuel Sharp graduate due to fouls. Another player, J'Wan Roberts barely stayed in the game up to the end with four fouls when it was all said and done on the court.
“[It is a] perfect record for Houston to have four players foul out and still find a way to win,” Sampson stated after the win over the Aggies (via Jeff Legwold of ESPN). “All the years I've been doing this I don't know I've had a more satisfying win.”
Houston basketball escapes scare in second round vs. Texas A&M
Houston's victory against the pesky Aggies despite being slapped with numerous fouls was a testament to the depth of the Cougars — and to the coaching abilities of Sampson.
Sharp paced Houston basketball with 30 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the floor, including seven 3-pointers on 14 attempts from deep. Shead also had a big offensive night before hitting the bench, as he put up 21 points, while Cryer added 20.
Overall, the Cougars shot 51.5 percent from the floor, while holding the Aggies to only 38.7 percent shooting. Sure, they allowed 86 regulation points to Texas A&M, but the Cougars can still be praised for their defense, especially since the Aggies had nine more attempts from the field than Houston basketball.
After holding the Longwood Lancers in an 86-46 win in the first round to just a 37.8 effective field goal percentage, the Cougars had Texas A&M recording just a 44.0 eFG%.
Sampson knows that nothing is going to be served on a silver platter for the Cougars and that close call against the Aggies could not have been a bigger example of that.
“At that moment, we needed belief, we needed toughness,” Sampson described the atmosphere during the overtime. “Everybody was fouling out.
“As good as [Texas A&M] played, we had the best player on the floor — Jamal Shead — and sometimes that's all you need,” Sampson added.
Houston to deal with an ACC powerhouse in the Sweet 16 round
By knocking out the Aggies out of March Madness, the Cougars have now succesfully reached the Sweet 16 round of the tournament for the second year in a row. They need just one more win to best their finish in 2023 when they were eliminated in the regional semifinals after losing to the Miami Hurricanes.
Standing in the way of Houston basketball and an appearance in the Elite Eight round are the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils, who also advanced to the third round by taking down the James Madison Dukes on Sunday to the tune of a 93-55 score.
The last time Houston reached the regional final was back in 2022 when the Cougars fell short in that round to the Villanova Wildcats.
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