Longhorns rally past Aggies, 70-69

Published 2:36 pm Sunday, January 26, 2025

Field Level Media

Tramon Mark hit a running layup with 3.7 seconds left and Tre Johnson scored a career-high 30 points as Texas, which trailed by 22 in the second half, stormed back to edge rival No. 13 Texas A&M 70-69 on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

Texas A&M led by 18 at halftime before the Longhorns mounted a second-half onslaught behind Johnson, whittling the margin to 67-63 with 2:15 to play. A putback layup by Andersson Garcia expanded the Aggies lead back to six before Johnson, the Longhorns’ freshman phenom, poured in a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left to pull Texas (14-6, 3-4 in Southeastern Conference) to within 69-68. That set the stage for Mark, who drove the lane for a shot that bounced high off the backboard and in, completing Texas’ 7-0 run over the final 1:25. Johnson scored 24 of his points in the second half and Mark finished with 11 points for Longhorns. Texas played without second-leading scorer Arthur Kaluma, who was ruled out just before the game with a left knee injury.

Texas A&M (15-5, 4-3 SEC) was led by Wade Taylor IV’s 15 points while Manny Obaseki added 13 points in the loss, the Aggies’ 11th straight against Texas in Austin. The Aggies had more than doubled Texas’ output by late in the first half when Zhuric Phelps canned a 3-pointer to push their lead to 41-20 with 2:45 to play. The Longhorns got a 3-pointer from Kadin Shedrick and a layup from Ze’rik Onyema to cut the margin to 16 but Obaseki’s late bucket in the lane granted A&M a 43-25 advantage at the break. Obaseki’s 12 points led all first-half scorers.

Johnson led the anemic Texas attack with just six points. A&M pushed its lead to 51-29 after Taylor’s 3-pointer with 17:07 to play. But the Longhorns responded, reeling off a 19-5 run to cull their deficit to eight, with the run capped by a four-point play by Mark with 10:04 remaining. The Aggies again got some separation, going up 64-50 on another Taylor basket from deep with 6:43 left. Johnson shot Texas back into shouting distance with a basket, two free throws, a 3-pointer and two more from the charity stripe, trimming the margin to five with 4:30 to play.

HOUSTON 92, KANSAS 86: J’Wan Roberts had 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists to help No. 7 Houston rally to a dramatic 92-86 double-overtime victory over No. 12 Kansas on Saturday evening in a Big 12 showdown at Lawrence, Kan. Mylik Wilson added 18 points and Milos Uzan had 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Cougars (16-3, 8-0 Big 12) won their 12th consecutive game. Houston overcame six-point deficits late in regulation and in the first overtime to remain alive before controlling the second OT. Flory Bidunga recorded 19 points and seven rebounds before fouling out for Kansas (14-5, 5-3). Rylan Griffen scored eight of his season-high 17 points in the first overtime and matched his career high of five 3-pointers for the Jayhawks. Hunter Dickinson registered 17 points and eight rebounds, Zeke Mayo had 16 points and nine rebounds and Dajuan Harris Jr. had 12 assists for Kansas. Houston received 3-pointers from Emanuel Sharp and Uzan to take an 86-81 lead with 2:54 left in the second overtime.

A three-point play by Mayo brought the Jayhawks within two with 1:16 left. A basket by Roberts, two free throws by Uzan and two free throws by Sharp gave Houston a 92-84 lead with 24.2 seconds left, and the Cougars wrapped up the victory. Things looked good for Kansas in the first overtime when Griffen made two free throws for a 79-73 lead with 28.3 seconds left. But Sharp made a 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds left, Uzan stole Mayo’s inbounds pass and Wilson drained a trey with 4.3 seconds left to tie the game at 79. In regulation, Griffen buried a 3-pointer and Bidunga slammed home a dunk to give Kansas a 66-60 lead with 1:31 remaining. Uzan made back-to-back jumpers, the latter with 16.6 seconds left, to bring the Cougars within 66-64. Mayo was called for a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds pass to give Houston the ball. Roberts was fouled with 13.9 seconds left and made both of his free throws to tie the contest at 66.

The Cougars made 47.9 percent of their shots and were 8 of 25 from behind the arc. Houston made just 14 of 25 free throws (56 percent), but the Jayhawks (17 of 30, 56.7 percent) also struggled. Kansas shot 45.5 percent from the field, including a 9-of-25 mark from 3-point range. Houston committed just five turnovers in the 50-minute game. The Jayhawks had 12. Dickinson scored 12 points in the first half, and the Jayhawks led 38-31 at the break. Wilson had nine points in the half for Houston.

BAYLOR 76, UTAH 61: Norchad Omier scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lift Baylor to a 76-61 road victory over Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon. VJ Edgecombe added 21 points with six boards and Robert Wright III chipped in with 14 points as the Bears (13-6, 5-3 Big 12) won their second straight game. Ezra Ausar led the Utes (11-8, 3-5) with 19 points and seven rebounds in their second straight league loss. Miro Little totaled 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists off the bench. Baylor seized control for good after a Gabe Madsen dunk helped the Utes pull within 61-53 with 5:43 remaining. Omier scored seven points during a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to rebuild the lead to 15. He finished shooting 6-for-9 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line while adding two assists, two steals and a block. The Utes struggled offensively, shooting just 40 percent overall and hitting 5 of 23 3-pointers (21.7 percent).

Baylor shot 43.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent beyond the arc, including a 4-for-6 outing from distance by Edgecombe. Utah started strong, taking a 9-2 lead after a 3 by Madsen and three inside baskets by Ausar. The Bears responded with a 24-5 run — holding the Utes scoreless for nearly five minutes during one stretch — to seize the lead for good. Edgecombe scored five straight points later in the first half to put Baylor up 34-18. Utah pulled within seven at the half but couldn’t get any closer than six in the second half before the Bears rebuilt their double-digit lead. Madsen, who averages 15.3 points, had another quiet game, making only 2 of 10 shots for five points. He’s scored just 21 points over his last three games. Baylor helped itself at the free-throw line, making 17 of 20 foul shots. The Utes went 12-for-20 from the charity stripe. The Bears also outrebounded the Utes 39-33.

OKLAHOMA 65, ARKANSAS 62: Jalon Moore scored 13 points and hit the go-ahead free throw with 1:15 left in the game as Oklahoma ground out a 65-62 win over Arkansas on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. The Sooners’ defense held the Razorbacks scoreless for the last 2:13. Jeremiah Fears scored 16 points and Brycen Goodine chipped in nine points for the Sooners (15-4, 2-4 in Southeastern Conference play), who have won two straight games after losing the previous four. Johnell Davis scored a game-high 18 points, D.J. Wagner added 13 points and Zvonimir Ivisic and Adou Thiero each tallied 10 points for Arkansas (12-8, 1-6). After Moore’s free throw gave Oklahoma a 63-62 lead, Davis forced a long 3-pointer that was short on the ensuing Arkansas possession. A moving screen call then led to Oklahoma’s ninth turnover of the second half, but Davis missed a layup on the Razorbacks’ last shot attempt. Moore’s breakaway slam at the buzzer provided the final margin. After a Glenn Taylor Jr. layup put Oklahoma up 62-59, Davis tied the game with a corner 3-pointer with 2:13 to play. Arkansas pushed its lead to 50-45 when Thiero hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key, the Razorbacks’ defense got a stop and Ivisic hit a three from the wing with 10:06 left in the game. Oklahoma took its first lead at 12-10 on a Moore layup that was part of an 8-0 run. The Sooners stretched their lead to 24-16 as Goodine heated up from 3-point range. He drilled a trey on three straight Sooners possessions. On a screen-and-roll with Fears, Godwin hammered home an alley-oop dunk as OU took a 26-16 lead. Thiero hit a pair of free throws on the next Arkansas possession, but Godwin flew in for a two-handed dunk to cap a 13-5 Sooners run. But the Razorbacks closed the half on an 11-2 run. Ivisic left his signature on the rally when he followed up a blocked shot of a Godwin dunk attempt with a transition 3-pointer to cut the Sooners lead to 33-29. Fears hit a pair of foul shots for OU, but Davis’ tip at the 18-second mark before halftime cut the Sooners’ lead to 35-31. –Field Level Media

AUBURN 53, TENNESSEE 51: Miles Kelly buried the game-winning 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining to push No. 1 Auburn to a thrilling 53-51 win over No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday in Auburn, Ala. Johni Broome scored 16 points off the bench in his return from injury, making 7 of 19 attempts from the field after missing Auburn’s previous two games with what appeared to be a severe ankle sprain. Chaney Johnson finished with 10 points for the Tigers (18-1, 6-0 Southeastern Conference), while Chad Baker-Mazara added seven points despite suffering an injury scare himself after taking a hard fall in the first half. Zakai Zeigler led Tennessee with 14 points, making 4 of 15 attempts from the field while grabbing six rebounds and dishing five assists. Chaz Lanier added 10 points and Felix Okpara led the Volunteers (17-3, 4-3) with nine rebounds. Lanier gave Tennessee a 48-47 lead with 3:10 remaining on his second 3-pointer of the game, courtesy of an assist by Zeigler. Okpara started the sequence with a timely block on Broome. Tennessee extended its lead to 51-47 with a 6-0 run, but Auburn ended the game with a 6-0 run of its own. The game was a rock fight from the opening tip. The teams started the game a combined 1 of 14 from the field overall and combined to shoot 1 of 21 (4.8 percent) from 3-point range in the first half. Auburn managed to take a 22-20 lead into the locker room at halftime, as Tennessee missed all eleven of its 3-point attempts and made just 7 of 25 attempts (28 percent) from the field overall. A hobbled Broome was Auburn’s lone bright spot in the first half, scoring nine points on 4-of-10 shooting despite Auburn’s own abysmal 7-of-32 (21.9 percent) performance from the field overall. Auburn finished the game with 18 field goals on 58 attempts (31 percent), going 3 of 20 (15.0 percent) from beyond the arc. Tennessee was 17 of 54 from the field (31.5 percent) and 4 of 22 from deep (18.2 percent).