Texas gets crucial bubble win with 2OT victory vs. No. 14 Texas A&M

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tre Johnson made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:08 left in the second overtime and the Texas Longhorns extended their first visit to the Southeastern Conference Tournament by beating old foe No. 14 Texas A&M 94-88 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals.

Texas (19-14) came in as the SEC's No. 13 seed with the Longhorns needing victories to play their way into the NCAA Tournament. They will face No. 4 seed and eighth-ranked Tennessee on Friday.

Johnson finished with 20 points. Tramon Mark had 15, Kadin Shedrick added 14 and Jordan Pope had 13 for Texas.

Mark's short jumper hit off the rim just before the buzzer to force overtime and a thrilling finish.

Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies (22-10) with 29 points and was 17 for 18 at the free throw line, becoming the SEC's career tournament scoring leader. Manny Obaseki had 17 before fouling out. Aderss Garcia added 13 and Henry Coleman III had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Takeaways

Texas: The Longhorns came to Nashville having lost four of their last five trying to stay on the tournament bubble and likely needing wins to save coach Rodney Terry’s job. This should help now they've won two of their last three.

Texas A&M: The Aggies are an SEC-best 7-3 over the past three SEC tourneys, reaching the 2022 and 2023 finals. They lost in the semifinals last year. Five Aggies have played nine or more SEC tournament games, led by Hayden Hefner in his fifth year.

Key moment

Shedrick's dunk with 4.6 seconds left in the first overtime forced another five minutes of play for Texas.

Key stat

Texas A&M missed seven of their last eight shots in the second overtime.

Up next

The Longhorns lost to Tenessee by four in January. The Aggies now wait for their NCAA Tournament slot.

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