“One of the things I kept hearing was how much better Texas A&M was from the last time that we played them,” Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said, “and they were right. Texas A&M is a lot better than the first time we played them. (Wade) Taylor, (Manny) Obaseki, (Tyrese) Radford, those guys are really good.”

Trailing by 13 points with 3:41 left, the Aggies forced overtime on a last-second 3-pointer by Andersson Garcia. The top-seeded Cougars, however, had just a little more left in the tank to pull out a foul-plagued 100-95 victory at FedEx Forum to advance to the Sweet 16.

“(UH) is phenomenal. I thought it was a heavyweight fight,” coach Buzz Williams said. “There were times when we may have won the round. There were for sure times they won the round. I don't think there was ever any time our guys felt emotionally that it was over."

Much of the game was an exercise in offensive frustration for the Aggies, who converted just 11 of 24 free throw attempts in the first half and Wade Taylor didn’t make a basket until 17:21 to go in the game. Still, A&M was able to hang around until late in the second half, when Emanuel Sharp (30 points) hit a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up with 2:23 to go in the game. The Aggies picked up a pair of free throws from Obaseki (15 points), but the Cougars easily broke the A&M press and let to a dunk by Mylik Wilson.

A&M was back down 12 with precisely two minutes to go. A&M added a Solomon Washington dunk, then Houston made only one of two free throws. Taylor, who scored 21 points but only made 5 of 26 shots, grabbed an offensive rebound and fired up a wild shot for a long 2.

The lead was down to 9 with 1:26 left.

Houston guard LJ Cryer made one of two at the line with 1:24 left, and Radford (27 points, 15 rebounds) hit another long 2. After Cryer stepped out of bounds, Taylor fired up a quick 3 to pull the Aggies with 83-78 with 1:13 left.

Sharp made two free throws with 1:04 left to push Houston’s lead back up to 7, but Cryer fouled Taylor on a 3-point attempt with 55 seconds left. Taylor sank all three free throws and the Houston lead was cut down to 4.

Fouled again, Sharp made one of two and A&M quickly hustled down the court to get a layup from Washington. It was 86-83 with 44 seconds left. Guard Jamal Shead (21 points, 10 assists), who had been getting to the basket all night, had a short shot blocked by Washington with 18 seconds left.

Taylor and Radford both missed shots, but A&M, as they did all year, got the offensive rebound. After a timeout, Taylor rushed a 3, which missed, but rebounded his own shot and missed again.

The Aggies had one last shot with 1.2 seconds left, inbounding under the Houston basket. Radford tossed a pass out to the top of the key, where Garcia (12 points, 5 rebounds) graded the low pass and shot in one motion. As the horn went off, the ball cleanly went through the hoop, and Garcia — who fell to the floor — was mobbed by his teammates.

“Our coaches drew up a play. I believe in the coaches and they believe in the players,” Radford said. “Someone was going to be open. Credit to the coaching staff and to Andy for hitting the open 3.”

Bemoaning A&M’s defensive struggles on a night when Houston shot 52% from the field, Williams said, “That’s a shot that will go down in Texas A&M lore, but that was to tie. It wasn’t to win.”

The Aggies shot only 39% from the field, but dominated in the rebounding department 49-35. A&M grabbed 26 offensive rebounds to Houston’s 11.

“They killed us on the boards,” Sampson said.

By the start of overtime, both teams were clearly exhausted and having to rely on their bench. Obaseki and Washington both fouled out for A&M, and four of five starters ended up on the bench for Houston after being disqualified.

Still, it was the Cougars who jumped out quickly in overtime, with Sharp hitting a 3 and Shead adding 5 more points before both fouled out.

“It was the same problem we had for the first 40 minutes, trying to get enough stops. We couldn’t get enough stops,” Williams said.

In spite of the difficult nature of the loss and the reality that Radford has played his last game in an A&M uniform, Williams was still able to be retrospective when asked about the season.

“In some respects, I actually think the 45-minute game tonight was just a microcosm of what you've seen from us, good and bad, throughout the year. And I just admire our guys so much,” he said.