Aggies vs Cougars: NCAA Showdown

0:00On March 21, Texas A&M faces Houston in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 5.10 pm in Oklahoma City at the Paycomm Center. The 10th Cedar Aggies hope to repeat a bit of magic from 10 years ago when they stazed a stunning comeback from 12 points down in the final. 44 seconds of regulation to beat Northern Iowa and double overtime right there in the same arena. No. Two seed Houston enters as a heavy 10-and-a-half point favorite. Both teams cruised in the first round, with Houston dominating 15 seeded Idaho 78-47 while A&M held off St. Mary's 63-50. This sets up a rematch from last year, when the Cougars edged the Aggies 100-95 in overtime to knock them out of the tournament. Coaches on both sides show plenty of respect. A&M's first-year headman, Bucky McMillan, calls Houston Squad long, athletic and tough across the board, especially in rebounding and defense.

1:00Houston's Kelvin Samson praises A&M's disruptive full court pressure that rattled St. Mary's into 18 turnovers and their lowest score of. The season. Houston boasts elite guards like freshman star Kingston Fleming's, averaging 16.4 points and 5.3 assists along with seniors. Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzon, all double-digit scores who helped the Cougars lead the nation in fewest turnovers at 8-7-5 for game. They ranked second nationally and points allowed at 62.4, which could slow A&M's fast-paced offense that scores 87 points per game. A win sends the Aggies to the sweet 16 for just the second time since that epic run a decade back, facing the Illinois VCU winner next week. They'll need sharp ball handling and that same gritty defense to pull it off against Houston's Stingy style.