Preview: Houston, Texas A&M meet in NCAA Tournament for second time in three years

Houston men’s basketball’s thwarting of No. 15-seeded Idaho and Texas A&M’s win over No. 7-seeded Saint Mary’s have led the two in-state programs to a round of 32 rematch from two years prior.

“Every time we play A&M, it’s real competitive. Just great basketball. A lot of energy. Just coming out, competing, the same thing we do every game,” redshirt senior guard Emanuel Sharp said. “Just having the right mindset. You know, they’re a great team, great coaching staff. Just make sure we’re going out there and playing our brand of basketball and executing the scouting report.

Longtime friends reunite

The Pop Isaacs era in Houston was a short-lived one for the now redshirt junior guard.

Nearly one year ago, he joined the program after senior guard Milos Uzan declared for the NBA draft in April.

Isaacs is averaging 9.9 points for Texas A&M, having played in 32 of its 33 games. At the time of his arrival in Houston, he provided the Cougars with experience and flexibility as a combo guard. 

However, when Uzan withdrew from the NBA draft one month later, choosing to return for his senior year, suddenly Houston’s core and guard room for the 2025-26 season seemed intact.

The sudden reality led Isaacs to pivot to Texas A&M.

And yet, the NCAA Tournament roads have led them to the same side of the bracket with a Sweet 16 appearance on the line.

Uzan and Isaacs’ relationship extends back to their days playing high school basketball in Las Vegas, with the respect for one another just as strong today. 

“Yeah, that’s definitely my brother. We grew up together. But, I mean, we’re competitors,” Uzan said. “So tomorrow we know it’s a battle… A lot of us have friends that we play against, but when you get in between those lines, it’s definitely the score, so we know that.”

An introduction to “Bucky Ball”

The style of play made famous by Texas A&M’s first-year coach Bucky McMillan can be broken down into three hallmarks: pace, getting up a lot of 3-pointers, and a smothering full-court press.

At certain points this season, Houston has experienced one or the other, perhaps two. 

But not all three attributes at once.

“Bucky does an awesome job of disrupting the game. That creates a lot of challenges,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. 

He doesn’t believe the Cougars have faced anyone who disrupts the game “to the extent that Bucky does.”

Among Sampson’s explanations came A&M’s most recent result, its 63-50 first-round victory over the No. 7 seed St. Mary’s.

In that game, the Aggie defense was able to force 16 turnovers, which led to 14 points off of them. 

“They’re committed to their style, and they’re really good at it, too. St. Mary’s is a good team, and they just dominated that game (Thursday night),” Sampson said. 

For freshman guard Kingston Flemings and Uzan, who control the vast majority of Houston’s playmaking duties, the key is remaining composed with the increased pace of the game. 

“As long as we’re composed as point guards, guards, and we don’t turn the ball over, we should do a good job,” Flemings stated. 

Keeping a streak alive has added meaning

Last season’s win over Gonzaga gave Houston the longest active Sweet 16 appearance streak at six, snapping the Bulldogs’ run of nine consecutive Sweet 16s.

For Houston, getting to a seventh Sweet 16 in a row would mean playing that third game and potentially the Elite Eight at Toyota Center, just a couple of miles up the road from Fertitta Center. 

It’d give Houston a kind of home-court advantage it hasn’t had in the NCAA Tournament in quite some time, even after playing the Final Four in San Antonio last year.

College Station is just over an hour and a half drive from Houston, giving the Aggies a chance to have a proximity advantage as well if they are to advance.

Houston must first advance past Texas A&M when the two face off on Saturday at 5:10 p.m. at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on TNT.