The referees let the Longhorns and the Aggies get after each other in the postseason edition of the Lone Star Showdown. As the No. 13-seed Texas Longhorns battled the No. 5-seed Texas A&M Aggies, the physicality was high in a low-scoring first half.
Texas forced a usually clean Aggie offense to commit six turnovers while only committing two of its own. Forward Arthur Kaluma, who has stepped up big for the Horns in the postseason, scored a team-leading 7 points alongside five rebounds and one block.
Despite just how aggressively the two teams played in the first half, Texas head coach Rodney Terry wanted even more from his team.
“Great job taking care of the basketball. We’ve gotta keep being physical off the glass, this is the best offensive rebounding team in the country," Terry said. "We just gotta keep having good player movement, good ball movement.”
Transfer guard Jordan Pope hit a few clutch three-point shots as the Longhorns surged ahead of the Aggies to claim a six-point lead at halftime. As the two teams went their separate ways after the first 20 minutes, Texas held a 37-27 lead over Texas A&M.
Horns lead at half 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/BsVAHGTQlz
— Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) March 13, 2025
The rival programs faced each other twice in the regular season, each claiming a win when they played at home, with Texas earning a resounding comeback victory over Texas A&M at the Moody Center in Austin.
Pope, freshman star Tre Johnson, and senior guard Tramon Mark earned 5 points apiece in the first half, and forward Kadin Shedrick tacked on an additional 2 points to the starting lineup's total. The Longhorns' bench combined for 9 of Texas' 33 total first-half points.
The winner of the Texas-Texas A&M matchup would advance to the quarterfinal round, where they would face the No. 4-seed Tennessee Volunteers for a chance at a semifinal berth.