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Texas A&M Aggies fans are preparing for the ten-year anniversary of the historic 2016 March Madness comeback against the Northern Iowa Panthers.
Down 10 points with 40 seconds remaining, I wouldn’t have blamed you for thinking the game was over. The Aggies had the ball and needed a miracle, starting with a bucket. Star Alex Caruso missed a difficult three, but Admon Gilder secured the offensive rebound and converted the putback to close the lead to 10 with 34 seconds left.
The 11th-seeded Panthers struggled with A&M’s press, first calling a timeout before turning the ball over on an errant inbound pass. Gilder again came away with the ball and hit Danuel House for a transition layup. The lead was down to eight with 26 seconds to go.
Northern Iowa guard Paul Jesperson was double-teamed the moment he caught the ball on the ensuing inbound. Flustered by the relentless Aggies’ press, Jesperson leaped in the air, spun, and chucked the ball, hoping to knock it out of bounds off an opponent. When his throw failed to make contact with either player defending him, Jalen Jones picked up the loose ball for a wide-open layup. Suddenly, the lead was just six with 21 seconds remaining.
The Texas A&M press forced a turnover on the following inbound when the passer, worried about Gilder’s outstretched arms, missed his target. Caruso found House for a deep rhythm three off the baseline out of bounds, which he converted to make it a three-point ball game with 19 seconds to play.
The Panthers finally exposed the Aggies’ press, hitting a quick transition dunk that extended their lead to five with 17 seconds left. Alex Caruso answered with a quick transition layup and-one of his own, which he converted to bring the lead to two points with 11.8 seconds left. Despite the embarrassing collapse, Northern Iowa could ice the game if it could just get the ball past halfcourt.
The Panthers inbounded it to Wes Washpun in the corner, where he was instantly swallowed by an ever-aggressive Aggie press. After six seconds of pivoting and praying, Washpun leaped and threw the ball at Gilder. For the second time in just 20 seconds, Northern Iowa missed such an attempt, giving Gilder a wide-open layup to tie the game with 1.8 seconds left.
The Aggies would go on to win by four in double overtime, 92-88, simply outlasting a surprisingly potent mid-major opponent. The team kept dancing with this victory as they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
Texas A&M had never reached the Elite Eight before this year, and this streak continued after a Buddy Hield-led Oklahoma squad knocked the Aggies out in their following game. Still, this marked a high point for a program that hadn’t seen such success since Acie Law IV’s heyday in 2007.
This Aggies squad had two future NBA players: Caruso and House. Both players went undrafted, fighting to make NBA rosters through the G League. Last season, Caruso won his second NBA Championship after being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is currently ranked as the 34th-best player in the NBA by DARKO, the league's favorite advanced metric; quite a rise for the formerly undrafted man.
House was an important member of an early 2020’s Houston Rockets rotation, where he faced Caruso and the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Sam on X:@Smallred25
This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Anniversary of Texas A&M's historic March Madness comeback approaches
Continue reading...
Down 10 points with 40 seconds remaining, I wouldn’t have blamed you for thinking the game was over. The Aggies had the ball and needed a miracle, starting with a bucket. Star Alex Caruso missed a difficult three, but Admon Gilder secured the offensive rebound and converted the putback to close the lead to 10 with 34 seconds left.
The 11th-seeded Panthers struggled with A&M’s press, first calling a timeout before turning the ball over on an errant inbound pass. Gilder again came away with the ball and hit Danuel House for a transition layup. The lead was down to eight with 26 seconds to go.
Northern Iowa guard Paul Jesperson was double-teamed the moment he caught the ball on the ensuing inbound. Flustered by the relentless Aggies’ press, Jesperson leaped in the air, spun, and chucked the ball, hoping to knock it out of bounds off an opponent. When his throw failed to make contact with either player defending him, Jalen Jones picked up the loose ball for a wide-open layup. Suddenly, the lead was just six with 21 seconds remaining.
The Texas A&M press forced a turnover on the following inbound when the passer, worried about Gilder’s outstretched arms, missed his target. Caruso found House for a deep rhythm three off the baseline out of bounds, which he converted to make it a three-point ball game with 19 seconds to play.
The Panthers finally exposed the Aggies’ press, hitting a quick transition dunk that extended their lead to five with 17 seconds left. Alex Caruso answered with a quick transition layup and-one of his own, which he converted to bring the lead to two points with 11.8 seconds left. Despite the embarrassing collapse, Northern Iowa could ice the game if it could just get the ball past halfcourt.
The Panthers inbounded it to Wes Washpun in the corner, where he was instantly swallowed by an ever-aggressive Aggie press. After six seconds of pivoting and praying, Washpun leaped and threw the ball at Gilder. For the second time in just 20 seconds, Northern Iowa missed such an attempt, giving Gilder a wide-open layup to tie the game with 1.8 seconds left.
The Aggies would go on to win by four in double overtime, 92-88, simply outlasting a surprisingly potent mid-major opponent. The team kept dancing with this victory as they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
Texas A&M had never reached the Elite Eight before this year, and this streak continued after a Buddy Hield-led Oklahoma squad knocked the Aggies out in their following game. Still, this marked a high point for a program that hadn’t seen such success since Acie Law IV’s heyday in 2007.
This Aggies squad had two future NBA players: Caruso and House. Both players went undrafted, fighting to make NBA rosters through the G League. Last season, Caruso won his second NBA Championship after being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is currently ranked as the 34th-best player in the NBA by DARKO, the league's favorite advanced metric; quite a rise for the formerly undrafted man.
House was an important member of an early 2020’s Houston Rockets rotation, where he faced Caruso and the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Sam on X:@Smallred25
This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Anniversary of Texas A&M's historic March Madness comeback approaches
Continue reading...
