Garcia's crazy shot forces OT as Houston outlasts Texas A&M in a classic

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A miraculous rally extended the basketball game on Sunday night, but it wasn’t enough to extend Texas A&M’s season.

The No. 9 seed Aggies (21-15) could not duplicate a furious regulation rally and fell 100-95 to No. 1 seed Houston (32-4) in the NCAA South Region second round at FedExForum.

The loss spoiled an improbable 17-5 rally in the final 1:49 of regulation. The run was capped by Andersson Garcia’s arcing 3-pointer at the buzzer, which forged an 86-86 tie.

But Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford missed 3-point attempts in the final 25 seconds as another rally came up short.

Radford scored 27 points, and Taylor had 21 to lead the Aggies. Manny Obaseki also had 15, and Garcia finished with 12.

Houston was led by Emanuel Sharp, who had 30 before fouling out. Jamal Shead had 21, and L.J. Cryer had 20.

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The triple to force overtime was Andersson Garcia's 20th 3-point attempt this season. 

The Aggies were obviously frustrated by their inability to close out the upset. However, they have lamented even more their inability to capitalize at the foul line.

A&M converted only 29 of 45 free throws, which proved a major problem.

Most of those misses came in the first half and were the main reason the Aggies trailed 43-38 at halftime.

Time and again, the Aggies successfully attacked the rim. They converted eight layups and drew 14 fouls.

But the Aggies only made 11 of 22 first-half free throws. Some of those misses were the front ends of one-and-one situations. Even the almost automatic Taylor misfired at the free-throw line.

A&M easily could have had the lead at the break. Still, they could be optimistic going in the locker room.

The Aggies were within striking distance despite their free-throw gaffes and abysmal 1-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Houston shot 48.5 percent from the field, including five treys.

Yet, the Aggies were still in contention even though Taylor had just one point.

A huge blocked shot by Solomon Washington may have prevented Houston from taking control.

The Cougars had turned a 16-13 deficit into a 27-20 lead with 7:47 left in the half. They threatened to add to the margin after Washington missed two free throws.

Shead raced downcourt for a layup, but Washington swooped in just in time to reject the shot.

That seemed to ignite the Aggies, who had managed just four points in just over four minutes.

Radford immediately scored consecutive layups to spark a 10-3 rally.

A&M took a 33-32 lead when Garcia hit the second of two free throws with 3:15 left in the half.

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Texas A&M shot 64 percent from the charity stripe, hitting 29 of 45. 

But Shead scored 10 points in the final 2:51 to provide Houston its five-point cushion.

Houston hit six of its first 10 shots to push its lead to 57-48 seven minutes into the second half.

A&M’s deficit reached 10 points, 68-58, on two Sharp free throws with 5:29 to play.

Sharp appeared to settle the issue with a trey from the corner for a 74-61 lead with 3:49 left.

But the Aggies stormed back in the final minutes, pulling within 86-83 on a Washington layup with 46 seconds left.

Washington then blocked a shot by Shead to give A&M a chance to force overtime.

The Aggies misfired on two 3-point attempts. The rebound went out of bounds to A&M with 1.2 seconds remaining.

Unable to find Taylor, Radford got the in-bounds pass to Garcia, who hoisted a rainbow that hit nothing but net.

Houston opened the overtime period with a 3-pointer by Sharp. The Cougars never lost the lead.

The Aggies trailed just 95-93 after a Taylor 3-pointer with 1:02 left.

But Shead hit a layup and — after Taylor missed a 3-point attempt — hit a free throw that gave Houston a 98-93 lead with 21.5 seconds left.

That was too much for the Aggies to overcome.