The Texas Longhorns overcame a one-point halftime deficit to escape College Station with a 70-68 win over Texas A&M in the final scheduled meeting between the two rivals.
Two Elston Turner free throws gave Texas A&M a 67-66 lead with 1:09 remaining in the game. Texas reclaimed the lead on their next possession with a J'Covan Brown layup that put the Longhorns back up 68-67. The Aggies turned the ball over on their next possession which led to two free throws from Brown to extend the lead to 70-67. Texas fouled Elston Turner before he could launch a game-tying attempt sending him to the line for two shots. Turner made the first and missed the second on purpose but the Longhorns secured the rebound and ran out the clock.
J'Covan Brown scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half to lead the Longhorns including 4-4 shooting from three-point range and seven assists. Sheldon McClellan added 15 poins while Alexis Wangmene added 10 points.
Elston Turner led the Aggies with 20 points and five rebounds. Dvid Loubeau added 14 points and six boards while Ray Turner chipped in 13 points off the bench.
With the win, Texas improves to 15-9 on the season and 5-6 in the Big 12. Texas A&M falls to 12-11 and 3-8 in conference play.
The Texas Longhorns led by as many as nine points before the Texas A&M Aggies closed the half with a 17-9 run to take a 34-33 lead into halftime.
The two teams played a pretty even half and are virtually separated by a single free throw by the Aggies. Both squads hit 11 field goals in the first half with three coming from beyond-the-arc. The difference was Texas was 8-11 from the free throw line while Texas A&M was 9-12. The Longhorns hold a slight 15-14 rebounding advantage including a 7-3 advantage on the offensive glass.
Ray Turner led the Aggies with eight points off the bench. David Loubeau added seven points while Elston Turner chipped in five points and five rebounds in the first half.
