I had fallen asleep. Houston was up 13 points with about 4 minutes to play. I think I saw San Diego State up by 24 points at halftime. I had the game playing on the computer but just couldn’t keep my eyes open. Then, I hear screaming on my computer. All of a sudden, it is a 5 point game.

Apparently, with 1:28 left, LJ Cryer had put Houston up by 10 points from the free throw line. But then the Aggies’ Tyrece Radford made a jumper to cut the lead to 8, they force a turnover, and Wade Taylor IV hit a three-pointer to make it a 5 point lead.

Then, after Emanuel Sharp hit two free throws for the Cougars, Taylor was fouled shooting a three pointer – and he hit all 3 free throws to make it a 4 point game with just 53 seconds. This was also important since it was the 5th foul on Cryer. The Aggies intentionally foul Sharp again, who this time only hits one of the free throws.

The Aggies charge the ball up the court, Radford missed a layup, but Solomon Washington got the rebound and hit the shot to cut the lead to 3. In 45 seconds, the 10 point lead was now just 3 points. And the Lunatic thought “I must be dreaming”

With it being back to a one possession game, the Aggies play straight-up defense, and Washington blocks Jamal Shead’s jumper after Houston had run the shot clock down – setting the stage for insanity.

The Aggies rush the ball down the court, and Taylor misses the shot, Radford tries to tip it in but misses it but A&M get the ball back out of bounds. Taylor misses a three-pointer, gets his own rebound, and misses a second three-pointer. And with 2 seconds left, the scrum for the rebound leads to a jump ball. The Aggies have the possession arrow – and so they get the ball again.

This time, a low pass goes to the top of the key and Anderson Garcia picks up the ball almost at his feet, and heaves up a desperation three-pointer that goes in – we are going to overtime!!!!

In the overtime period, Houston jumped back out to a lead off a three-pointer by Sharp, two free throws by Shead, and a nice layup by Mylik Wilson set up by a pretty pass from Shead. But the Aggies wouldn’t give up, and the Houston starters kept fouling out. They had already lost Javier Francis and Cryer in regulation, then they lost Sharp. And with just 18 seconds left in the game, Shead got his 5th foul as Taylor drove to the basket. Taylor would hit the free throws to cut the lead to 3 points.

On the inbounds, Houston lobbed the ball to seldom used Ryan Elvin. Elvin had shot just 4 free throws in the entire season, and now, Houston’s tournament was in his hands. Elvin missed the first free throw but made the second one to make it a 4 point game.

This time, the magic wasn’t there. Radford would miss a three pointer, and Mylik Wilson got the rebound. He would get fouled and make a free throw to make it a 5 point game. And the remaining shots from Texas A&M would miss until the clock buzzed.

It is not often you see a team win with 4 starters having fouled out of the game. It is not often you see a team come back from being down 10 points with less than 90 seconds left to force overtime. We almost saw a #1 seed go down in one of the last games of the first weekend.

But at the end of the day, there are no style points. Houston survived the upset bid by Texas A&M, and they advance to the Sweet 16. And in the process of writing this, San Diego State finally finished off Yale in an 85-57 blowout. So the Sweet 16 is set.

We will have UConn, San Diego St, Iowa St and Illinois in the East. North Carolina, Alabama, Arizona and Clemson in the West. Houston, Duke, Marquette and NC State in the South. And Purdue, Gonzaga, Tennessee and Creighton in the Midwest.