Four days removed from the greatest comeback win in NCAA tournament history and maybe the best ever authored in college basketball, all Texas A&M had to do Thursday was come back down to Earth to confront one of the best offensive teams in the nation led by national player of the year candidate Buddy Hield. It didn’t go well for the Aggies.
Oklahoma turned up the tempo in the first half and Texas A&M made the mistake of thinking it could keep pace. The Sooners surged to a 19-point halftime lead and the Aggies didn’t have another miracle comeback in them. The Sooners advance to their first Elite Eight since 2009 with a 77-63 victory.
Second-seeded Oklahoma will play either Duke or top-seeded Oregon in the West Region final on Saturday.
The Sooners made 50 percent of their shots in the first half and shot 6-for-11 behind the 3-point line. Meanwhile, the Aggies shot just 34 percent in the half and turned the ball over 10 times, making it easy for the Sooners to get into the kind of up-and-down pace in which they thrive.
It was far from Hield’s finest performance of the season, but the Sooners are at their best when they don’t need Hield playing hero. He simply scored his points in the flow of the game, didn’t force shots and watched backcourt mate Jordan Woodard take over at times.
Hield did produce the first double-double of his senior season by grabbing 10 rebounds to go with his 17 points. Woodard led Oklahoma with 22 and three other Sooners also scored in double figures.
Both players had to contend with Texas A&M standout Alex Caruso at times. Caruso is one of the best defensive perimeter players in the nation and the NCAA active leader in career steals.
Caruso capped his career with eight points, four rebounds, four steals and five assists, but the Aggies just didn’t have the offensive firepower to match the Sooners, especially in such a fast-paced game.
Freshman center Tyler Davis led the Aggies with 17 points. Jaylen Jones, who finished the game with 10 rebounds and 11 points, started fast with six early points leading the Aggies to an early lead, but he scored only five more the rest of the way.
Texas A&M made it to the Sweet 16 round by coming from 12 down in the final minute to beat Northern Iowa on Sunday in what was the largest last-minute comeback in NCAA history.
The Sooners made 50 percent of their shots in the first half and shot 6-for-11 behind the 3-point line. Meanwhile, the Aggies shot just 34 percent in the half and turned the ball over 10 times, making it easy for the Sooners to get into the kind of up-and-down pace in which they thrive.
It was far from Hield’s finest performance of the season, but the Sooners are at their best when they don’t need Hield playing hero. He simply scored his points in the flow of the game, didn’t force shots and watched backcourt mate Jordan Woodard take over at times.
Hield did produce the first double-double of his senior season by grabbing 10 rebounds to go with his 17 points. Woodard led Oklahoma with 22 and three other Sooners also scored in double figures.
Both players had to contend with Texas A&M standout Alex Caruso at times. Caruso is one of the best defensive perimeter players in the nation and the NCAA active leader in career steals.
Caruso capped his career with eight points, four rebounds, four steals and five assists, but the Aggies just didn’t have the offensive firepower to match the Sooners, especially in such a fast-paced game.
Freshman center Tyler Davis led the Aggies with 17 points. Jaylen Jones, who finished the game with 10 rebounds and 11 points, started fast with six early points leading the Aggies to an early lead, but he scored only five more the rest of the way.
Texas A&M made it to the Sweet 16 round by coming from 12 down in the final minute to beat Northern Iowa on Sunday in what was the largest last-minute comeback in NCAA history.
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