The Houston Cougars were victorious in last night’s overtime thriller against Texas rival A&M. After A&M’s Andersson Garcia drilled a 3 to send the game to overtime, the Cougars rallied behind Jamal Shead to a 100-95 win.
The 9-seed Aggies were able to keep the game close by dominating the offensive glass. They outrebounded Houston on offense by 15. Guard Tyrece Radford led the team in rebounds with 15. He was also the leading scorer as he tallied 27 points. And after a slow start from Wade Taylor IV, he pitched in 21. Manny Obaseki and Andersson Garcia poured in 15 and 12 respectively.
As for Houston, it was the sharpshooting from Emanuel Sharp that kept them alive. They struggled against the A&M defense early on but were able to find stride as Sharp hit 4 of his 7 threes in the 1st half. He finished the night with a career high of 30 points. Shead, who played the entire game, dished out 10 assists and scored 21 points. L.J Cryer followed suit with 20. And J’Wan Roberts scored 13 on a perfect 6-6 from the field.
Coming into the game, it was known the battle between the two teams would be physical. The matchup saw a total of 6 players foul out of the game, and 2 who came close. Garcia’s three to force overtime was just his 8th three of the season.
Though once the Aggies got to OT, they were not able to buy a field goal until 2 minutes remained. As the Cougars gained a small margin in the extra period, they found themselves at the free throw line plenty, where they were then able to claw their way towards a 100-95 victory.
In a postgame interview, star guard Jamal Shead pointed to the patch on his jersey, which showed the #32, and dedicated the win towards his late Cougar teammate Reggie Chaney. “Coach told us at halftime it going to be a war.” “What would 32 do?” Shead echoed in the interview. “Reggie Chaney would of fought his a*s off in a game like this.”
Chaney, a 3-year forward for the Cougars passed August 21st last year due to fentanyl toxicity. The 1-seed Cougars will have their work cut out as they return to the Lone Star State to face off against the Duke Blue Devils, Friday March 29th. (Approximately 8:35p.m.)
