Andersson Garcia hits unbelievable three-point buzzer-beater to send game into overtime vs Houston.
Texas A&M‘s Andersson Garcia provided one of the biggest moments in this year’s edition of March Madness in the Aggies’ second-round NCAA Tournament matchup versus No. 1 seed Houston on Sunday night.
As time expired Garcia hit a buzzer-beating three-point shot to tie things up at 86-86 and send the game into overtime in an epic moment that can be seen below.
The Aggies found themselves down by 12 points with two minutes remaining in regulation, with Houston’s Mylik Wilson making a layup with 2:03 on the clock to extend the Cougars’ lead to 81-69. But some strong defense, clutch shot-making, and an absolutely relentless finish to the game allowed the Aggies to keep their season alive.
Texas A&M star Wade Taylor IV scored eight points in the final two minutes of regulation, bringing the Aggies within striking distance with 1.2 seconds remaining. Capped off by Tyrece Radford finding Garcia behind the arc on a long-range bounce pass from under the basket, where he’d go on to hit what was likely the biggest shot of his basketball career.
Garcia hit the ground following his shot, covering his face and taking in all the emotions of the moment as his teammates rushed him on the court. With his buzzer-beating shot representing the first three-pointer he’d made since March 6 against Mississippi State during the regular season. Choosing an clutch time to score a season-high 12 points on college basketball’s biggest stage.
Houston survives overtime, advances to Sweet 16
The Cougars gave up what was a 13-point lead in dramatic fashion to end regulation, but in overtime, they were able to outscore the Aggies 14-9 to advance to a Sweet Sixteen matchup against Duke on Friday.
Emmanuel Sharp led Houston with a career-high 30 points, with Big 12 Player of the Year Jamal Shead adding 21 points and LJ Cryer scoring 20 to help the Cougars advance to the next round. But two of Texas A&M’s starters and four Houston starters ended up fouling out of Sunday’s electric matchup down the stretch, forcing the Cougars to rely on some unsung heroes to finish the job.
Ramon Walker Jr. made his first field goal of the tournament on a layup with 1:12 remaining in overtime to give Houston a 95-90 lead after averaging 1.9 points per game for the Cougars this season. Later followed by Ryan Elvin making one of his two free throw attempts to help ice the game in what were the eighth and ninth free throw shots of his college career.
Houston will face off against Duke this Friday at 9:39 p.m. ET in a Sweet Sixteen matchup airing on CBS.