Texas basketball vs Texas A&M: What Longhorns' OT win at SEC tournament means

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Texas basketball made a statement in a gritty, hard-fought, double-overtime win Thursday over bitter rival Texas A&M in the second round of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena.

But is that statement loud enough for the NCAA Tournament selection committee and a vocal contingent of Texas fans asking for the removal of head coach Rodney Terry to hear?

In the aftermath of a 94-89 double-overtime win over the No. 14 Aggies, the Texas players had no doubt about the answer after picking up a seventh Quad One win, which is a primary metric used to determine the 68-team NCAA field.

“We should definitely be in,” Texas guard Tramon Mark said. “And if there's still some doubt in other people's heads, then we’re going to come out and try to get another one tomorrow.”

Tomorrow means an SEC quarterfinal matchup with No. 8 Tennessee, which is lead by former Texas coach Rick Barnes. Beat the Vols, the fourth seed in the tournament, and the Longhorns (19-14) can likely start worrying more about seeding than selection.

Texas guard Tramon Mark, center, grabs a rebound in front of Texas A&M forward Solomon Washington, left, and forward Andersson Garcia during their second-round game at the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. With a 94-89 double-overtime win, the Longhorns advanced to a quarterfianl game against Tennessee Friday at 2:30 p.m.

According to Mark, certain Texas fans should worry less about the job Terry has done in his second full season as the Longhorns’ head coach, especially since the game against Texas A&M marked just the fourth game all year that the Longhorns have had a full complement of players.

“He's proven them wrong,” Mark said. “(Terry) has been doing a great job coaching. And at the end of the day, it's not on the coaches to win basketball games. We’ve got go there and do it ourselves. And these last two games (at the SEC tournament), that's been our focus. We've had great scouting reports.

"We had great walk-throughs throughout this whole process and throughout the whole tournament. We're going to have a great scouting report tonight on Tennessee and a walk-through in the morning and get ready to play.”

If the 13th-seeded Longhorns play like they have in their first two games in Nashville, they could pull off another upset over a well-rested Tennessee squad, which hasn’t played since Saturday. After controlling 12th-seeded Vanderbilt 79-72 in a first-round game, they held fifth-seeded Texas A&M to 34.7% shooting. And the Longhorns were particularly cool under pressure in overtime after Mark (15 points, four rebounds, five assists) and Chendall Weaver (10 points, six rebounds) fouled out.

Tre Johnson scored 15 of his 20 points after halftime, and Kadin Shedrick (14 points, five rebounds) made a career-high 10 free throws on 10 attempts, all of which came after the halftime break.

Terry liked what he saw from his players, especially in the taut moments of overtime. But most of all, he liked looking down the bench and seeing all of his players available.

“I've seen a team that's finally healthy, and we've got all of our full complement of guys,” he said. “They're all playing at a very high level for us, they're all playing together and playing for one another.”

Guard Jordan Pope, who scored 13 points and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds, agreed with his coach about the important of health. He just hopes the NCAA Tournament selection commitee does, too.

"We're one of the most talented teams in the country," he said. "You know, we battled some injuries in the season, and we've been a little up and down. But when we've played our best, we've proven that we can play with the best of them. We've got a lot of good wins, and we believe we're an NCAA tournament team."

Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Access all of our best content with this tremendous offer.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas vs Texas A&M: What SEC tournament win means for Horns

Topics

Did the Longhorns punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament by beating Texas A&M?

Did the Texas Longhorns men's basketball team ensure a spot in the NCAA Tournament with Thursday's upset win over rival Texas A&M? It's complicated.
Yahoo Sports - 6h
Texas vs Tennessee basketball: What times do Longhorns play in SEC tournament game?

The Texas Longhorns will play former coach Rick Barnes and Tennessee in the 3rd round of the SEC tournament. Here's everything to know about the game.
Yahoo Sports - 8h
Tre Johnson's 3 in double OT puts Texas ahead to stay in win over No. 14 Texas A&M at SEC Tourney

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 ...
Yahoo Sports - 11h
March Madness: Texas fans full of emotion after 2OT win over Texas A&M in SEC tournament

In the third matchup of the season, Texas came up victorious over Texas A&M in the SEC tournament. Here is how Longhorns fans reacted.
Yahoo Sports - 11h
South Carolina vs. Texas odds, free women's college basketball picks: Longhorns cover in 2025 SEC Tournament

SportsLine's Calvin Wetzel and Aaron Barzilai revealed their picks for Texas Longhorns vs. South Carolina Gamecocks in the 2025 SEC Women's Tournament final on Sunday
CBS Sports - 4d
Rodney Terry campaigns for Texas men's NCAA Tournament berth behind SEC's incredible season

Texas basketball picked up a signature win for its NCAA Tournament resume on Thursday vs. No. 18 Texas A&M. Here's what Rodney Terry said about it:
Yahoo Sports - 10h
Texas stuns Texas A&M in 2OT thriller, make case for NCAA Tournament

The Texas Longhorns held off their in-state rival Texas A&M in a double overtime thriller from the SEC Tournament.
Yahoo Sports - 10h
Aggies fans and media react to Texas A&M's 94-89 2 OT loss to Texas in the SEC Tournament

Texas A&M likely helped rival Texas punch it's ticket to the NCAA Tournament, leading to massive dissapointment from the Aggie fan base.
Yahoo Sports - 10h
Tre Johnson’s 3 in 2OT puts Texas ahead in win over No. 14 Texas A&M at SEC Tourney

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.
Yahoo Sports - 7h

Texas basketball vs Texas A&M: What Longhorns' OT win at SEC tournament means

Topics

Related

Did the Longhorns punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament by beating Texas A&M?

Texas vs Tennessee basketball: What times do Longhorns play in SEC tournament game?

Tre Johnson's 3 in double OT puts Texas ahead to stay in win over No. 14 Texas A&M at SEC Tourney

March Madness: Texas fans full of emotion after 2OT win over Texas A&M in SEC tournament

South Carolina vs. Texas odds, free women's college basketball picks: Longhorns cover in 2025 SEC Tournament

Rodney Terry campaigns for Texas men's NCAA Tournament berth behind SEC's incredible season

Texas stuns Texas A&M in 2OT thriller, make case for NCAA Tournament

Aggies fans and media react to Texas A&M's 94-89 2 OT loss to Texas in the SEC Tournament

Tre Johnson’s 3 in 2OT puts Texas ahead in win over No. 14 Texas A&M at SEC Tourney

More from Yahoo Sports

Trafford called up by Three Lions

Facing Chelsea 'not an easy task' says Cushing

Six Nations permutations: How England could win title

Pick your England XI for World Cup qualifiers

Guerschon Yabusele on his journey: Three years after being drafted, I had no team

More in Sports

Trafford called up by Three Lions

Facing Chelsea 'not an easy task' says Cushing

Six Nations permutations: How England could win title

Pick your England XI for World Cup qualifiers

Men's pound-for-pound rankings: Where does Bivol land after win? How about 'Tank' Davis?