Texas erases 22-point deficit to beat No. 13 Texas A&M 70-69, Johnson scores 30 points

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas guard Tramon Mark hit the game-winning bucket with 3.9 seconds left to beat No. 13 Texas A&M 70-69 and complete the Longhorns’ biggest comeback in Moody Center history Saturday.

Mark hung in the lane and banked it off the glass over a Texas A&M defender from a Julian Larry pass, sending the Longhorns into a frenzy after being down by 22 points with 17:07 left. He said it was an instinctual play.

“I got a great pass from Julian and then I saw the entire left side of the lane open,” he said. “I went up and shot it over the big guy, and it felt good to see it go down.”

The previous largest comeback for the Longhorns at Moody Center was 18 points Jan. 11, 2023, against TCU. Texas beat the Horned Frogs 79-75.

Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry said the final play was drawn up for freshman sensation Tre Johnson who ended the game with a career-high 30 points. The Aggies took the option away and forced it out of his hands, but Johnson got it to Larry who found Mark wide open on a pass to the wing for the clincher.

“We wanted to let Tre try to get this thing done. The set was for him, we wanted to get it in his hands,” Terry said. “But Tre trusted his teammates in that situation. Maybe earlier in the year he would have forced up a shot, but he did a good job recognizing it wasn’t there and we got it to Tramon.”

Johnson scored 24 points and knocked down all 10 foul shots in the second half, helping the Longhorns overcome Texas A&M’s hot shooting from 3-point range and the Aggies’ 43-27 advantage on the boards. Texas A&M came into the game shooting 30% from 3-point range, averaging 6.8 made 3-pointers per game, and nailed 12 of 22 attempts for 54% with Wade Taylor IV hitting five.

Johnson said some Aggies players were “talking trash” during the game, reminding the Longhorns about the 80-60 loss in College Station to open Southeastern Conference play. He said he couldn’t remember exactly what they said, but they “weren’t nice words.”

“We’ve been figuring out ways to win games,” Johnson said. “We’ve been sticking together and have the will to win now.”

Johnson hit four foul shots off two Texas A&M technical fouls that helped swing momentum back to the Longhorns. Henry Coleman III was called for one right before the 16-minute media timeout and the other was for too many players on the floor with about six minutes left. The latter created a 5-point swing with a pair of Johnson foul shots and his subsequent 3-pointer to cut A&M’s lead to 64-57.

Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams had nothing to say about the fouls other than to “ask the coordinator of officials.”

“That’s the best way for me to handle it,” Williams said.

He offered the same response when asked about his team only shooting eight foul shots the entire game. Texas made 14 of 17 attempts with 16 tries in the second half.

“I don’t mean to be condescending, I just want to be professional in every possible way,” he said. “I want to give credit to Coach Terry and his players for an incredible second half.”

Williams took ownership for his players, who did not respond well after Coleman’s technical.

“I need to do a better job with something like that,” he said.

Texas was missing guard Chendall Weaver and forward Arthur Kaluma due to injuries. Weaver has been out several games with a hip injury and Kaluma has had a nagging calf injury since the Florida game.

Mark finished with 11 points and Kadin Shedrick chipped in nine with eight rebounds. Texas also blocked nine shots and scored on 52.5% of its possessions. Texas A&M scored on half of its possessions and scored 20 second-chance points off of 18 offensive rebounds.

Taylor had 15 points for the Aggies and Manny Obaseki scored 13 off the bench.

The Longhorns (14-6, 3-4 SEC) head to take on former head coach Chris Beard and the Ole Miss Rebels on Tuesday. The Aggies (15-5, 4-3) host Oklahoma on Tuesday.

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