Texas A&M Storms Into Austin With Massive Rivalry Win vs. Texas

Texas A&M headed to Moody Center for the latest rendition of the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown against Texas, where coach Bucky McMillan's team dominated the second half, sparked by Kansas transfer Rylan Griffen’s phenomenal second half after going scoreless in the first half to escape with a 74-70 win.

Griffen concluded with points after nailing four 3-pointers to send his team back to Aggieland with a trophy. Offensively, A&M shot 51 percent from the field with eight threes made after only making two of them in the first half.

The Longhorns couldn’t generate enough points after having a ton of good looks, but couldn’t get any to fall, despite a good showing from guard Jordan Pope and forward Dailyn Swain, who combined for 34 points.

Even though getting to the free-throw line was a major part of Texas finding a way to stay in the game, 20 made free throws off 26 attempts weren't enough for one of the top teams in the nation in free-throw attempts.

Aggies vs Longhorns Recap

GOODBYE TO tEXAS uNIVERSITY 👍#GigEm | #BuckyBall pic.twitter.com/c6zccIJXBW
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) January 18, 2026

Out of the gate, Griffen rolled out of the locker room with a ton of confidence after recording no points in the first half, but had no hesitation getting to the basket with 10 points in less than 10 minutes in the second period.

With a 3-pointer to open things up by Griffen, he went on to tally 10 of the first 12 A&M points with three threes made in the opening four minutes. It was full throttle for A&M’s offense the rest of the way to the finish line, not giving up the lead once, even after Texas went on an 8-0 run. run in the final minute to get within three points with seven seconds left.

Luckily, the Aggies were able to force the Longhorns to foul Jacari Lane, who was quiet with eight points but made a free throw to keep it a two-possession game and move to 4-1 in conference play.

Starting the game, the Aggies felt immediate pressure from the Longhorns and their fans, who saw a great start and jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead. It was Pope, Swain, and Ma Vokietaitus generating the first seven for coach Sean Miller’s team.

A&M got its first of only two threes to fall, with one falling in by the Kansas forward transfer Zach Clemence. After a Swain jumper, A&M went on its first 7-0 run of the day that was sparked by guards Ali Dibba and Ruben Dominguez and forward Jamie Vinson, the former Texas transfer who was greeted with boos when he jogged on the court.

Vinson’s haters were quickly quieted after his massive dunk that gave the Aggies a 12-9 lead. Vokietaitus broke the Longhorns 5:47 scoring drought with his third of seven free throws, which were buried in the first half.

Later down the line, Texas extended its largest lead to six points at 24-18 when Vokietaitus scored six straight from the charity stripe, knocking down four more easy free throws before Swain made it himself.

To end the half, the Aggies finished on an 11-4 run to knot it up at 29-29. Going into the locker room, the Aggies only canned those two 3-pointers and shot 43 percent from the field. The defense hung in there strong despite the Longhorns' roller-coaster first half, heating up and then cooling off.

A&M finished with 34 points in the paint, led by forward Rashaun Agee’s 17 points and 11 rebounds for another double-double. There were also 20 bench points, 15 points off turnovers, despite losing the rebound battle 37-30.

Next up for A&M is a home game at Reed Arena against Mississippi State on Wednesday, January 21, with the game televised at 8 p.m. on SEC Network.