Texas, fighting for NCAA tournament bid, beats Texas A&M in 2OT - ESPN

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Texas' thrilling double-overtime victory over No. 14 Texas A&M in the SEC tournament on Thursday helped position the Longhorns for a potential at-large bid in the NCAA tournament.

Texas improved to 19-14 with the 94-88 victory, and the win over the Aggies marked its seventh Quad 1 victory of the season.

That set the stage for even higher stakes for the SEC's historic season, as a Longhorns' bid would mark the potential 14th SEC team to reach the NCAA tournament. The highest prior mark was the Big East's 11 bids in 2011.

The win Thursday afternoon positions Texas' game against No. 8 Tennessee on Friday in the SEC quarterfinals as game that could potentially solidify their NCAA status if they pull another upset. ESPN's Joe Lunardi moved Texas into the tournament as the final team in the field in his latest Bracketology rankings on Thursday, but that status is fickle with potential bid thieves coming from smaller-conference tournaments.

But Texas' upset victories over both Texas A&M and Vanderbilt this week have significantly built the case for the Longhorns, who entered the SEC tournament as the No. 13 seed.

Texas coach Rodney Terry said the Longhorns, who are fully healthy after battling injuries during league play, are peaking for March.

«We have star power,» Terry said. «We're playing well. We have our team that we anticipated that having to play for us right now, and we're playing good basketball. So I think all that matters down the stretch.»

Texas star freshman Tre Johnson led the Longhorns with 20 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in the second overtime. He's confident in Texas' chances.

«I think we should be in by now for sure,» Johnson said. «But if not, we can still put our hard hats on