Houston Trolls Texas A&M After NCAA Tournament Domination

The Houston Cougars got the last laugh on and off of the court.

Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson stands near the bench in the first half during a first-round men’s basketball game of the NCAA Tournament. | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 2 seed Houston Cougars fended off the No. 10 seed Texas A&M Aggies with ease in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

Behind a strong showing from senior guard Emmanuel Sharp, the Cougars went on to win 88-57. They became just the fourth team in NCAA Tournament history to win its first two games of the tournament by at least 30 points.

Sharp poured in 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while also grabbing four boards. Joining him in the double figures category were Chris Cenac Jr., who was one rebound shy of a double-double, as he finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. The Cougars also got 15 points from Milos Uzan and 12 points from Mercy Miller off of the bench.

Defensively, the Cougars were all over the place, as they held the Aggies to 35% shooting from the field and 25% shooting from deep. They also outworked Texas A&M, as they grabbed 17 more boards than them in total, and were able to grab 19 offensive rebounds.

Houston trolls Texas A&M after huge win in NCAA Tournament

The Houston Cougars react after defeating the Texas A&M Aggies in a second-round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Paycom Center. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Following the victory, the Houston Cougars' X admin had a bit of fun with Aggies fans, busting out a meme that also saw a fun flashback to the 2024 season. Similar to this year, the Cougars met the Aggies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the South region, and came out victorious.

"It’s funny that it happened twice 🤭," wrote the Houston Cougars on X.

It’s funny that it happened twice 🤭 pic.twitter.com/yKsmBLTjzb

— Houston Athletics (@UHCougars) March 22, 2026

With the win, the Cougars will advance to the Sweet 16 for the seventh year in a row. They will face their biggest test of the tournament thus far, as they will be taking on the No. 3 seed Illinois Fighting Illini.

While Illinois hasn't beaten its two opponents by 30 points each, they have skated through the first two rounds as well. They blasted Ivy League sweethearts, Penn 105-70 in the opening round of the tournament, before lighting up a frisky VCU squad in the second round, winning 76-55.

Houston's Sweet 16 clash with Illinois is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. At the time of writing, the NCAA Tournament and or television powers that be have yet to decide what time the two giants of college basketball will face off against one another.