The Good, Bad and Ugly of Houston's Huge Second Round Win vs Texas A&M

The Houston Cougars extended their historic Sweet 16 streak to seven straight after an 88-57 thrashing of No. 10 seed Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon in Oklahoma City.

Houston demonstrated why it is the No. 2 seed in the South Region and the Cougars will now return home for a historic Sweet 16 game against No. 3 seed Illinois just two miles away from campus at Toyota Center in downtown Houston on Thursday.

The seven straight Sweet 16's is the longest active streak in the country and it is one of the longest streaks of all-time. Houston improved to 30-6 on the season, the fifth straight season with at least 30 wins under coach Kelvin Sampson. It ties an NCAA record held by Gonzaga.

Here's the good, bad and ugly.

Good: A Massive Scoring Run

Houston Cougars basketball — Houston Cougars guard Milos Uzan (7) and center Chris Cenac Jr. (5) react during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies of a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Paycom Center. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

This game was competitive and close early on. Houston had a 25-24 lead at the 7:43 mark of the first half and everything completely changed after that. The Cougars went on a gigantic run and did not look back. Houston went on a 21-4 run for the rest of the first half and forced Texas A&M into an almost seven minute scoring drought.

Houston's defense went up a notch and the scoring came through the offensive rebounds and second chance points. Freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr. put up a great game on both sides of the ball with 17 points and nine rebounds on 5 of 9 shooting. That run at the end of the first period was provided by Cenac Jr. and senior point guard Milos Uzan, who ended up with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists.

The run continued at the start of the second half and it eventually extended to a 29-4 mark over an eight minute period. The score was 54-28. Houston had 46 total rebounds compared to 29 for Texas A&M. The Cougars dominated on the offensive glass with 19 offensive boards that resulted in 18 second chance points.

The Aggies just had nine offensive rebounds. Houston also had 32 points in the paint compared to 20 for A&M. The Cougars limited A&M's leading scorer Rashaun Agee to seven points and three rebounds.

The leading scorer in the game was senior guard Emanuel Sharp, who scored 18 points and was 5/11 from the field. Sharp was aggressive at the rim in this one, while freshman point guard Kingston Flemings got the second half out to a strong start.

With this being another blowout, sophomore guard Mercy Miller got extended playing time of 22 minutes and took advantage with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Bad: Slow Start and Shooting

It's never easy to get out to blistering start in the NCAA Tournament, and the Cougars were locked in a close battle with the Aggies through the first 13 minutes. Texas A&M went up 8-4 and 10-6 while Houston was a little slow on defense.

While Houston put up 88 points in the game, the shooting percentages were not high. The Cougars shot 44% from the field and 26% from three (8 of 31). Houston got 16 more shots off than Texas A&M, which was a reason for its success. Uzan was only 35% (6 of 17) overall.

Ugly: Injury Scare and Physical Fouls

Once again, there was not much ugly in this massive win. However, redshirt freshman forward Chase McCarty was involved in another injury scare as he dove for a loose ball and his leg crashed hard into the table on the sideline. He came up limping, but later returned with a bandage on that leg.

Texas A&M's coach Bucky McMillan was given a techincal foul for complaining for a couple of no-calls against Houston. The frustration continued for the Aggies as Ruben Dominguez was called for a flagrant one foul on junior forward Joseph Tugler.