Texas
3 takeaways from Lamar-Texas A&M: Aggies show depth, unleash offensive barrage in win
Despite a slow start, No. 23 Texas A&M men’s basketball put on an offensive showcase with a 97-71 win over Lamar on Monday night at Reed Arena. Four players scored double digits as the Aggies got 51 points from their bench.
The game was a final tuneup before A&M plays its second power conference opponent of the season in No. 21 Ohio State on Friday. Here are a few takeaways from the Aggies’ win:
A&M shook off a slow start to take a commanding lead
In contrast to last week’s win against East Texas A&M, the Aggies took some time to get going with just nine points through five minutes of action. But when A&M found its groove, it held on to it for the rest of the night. It took a 50-29 lead into halftime and maintained that intensity through the second half.
“I thought, collectively, we were all on the same page,” coach Buzz Williams, who earned his 350th career win, said. “I thought there was great symmetry on what we’re trying to accomplish on both ends of the floor. … Pleased in many respects, for sure.”
Senior SMU transfer guard Zhuric Phelps led the team in scoring for the second game in a row with 16 points and didn’t slow down with 11 coming in the final 20 minutes. He added a team-high seven assists in 28 minutes of action. Graduate G Wade Taylor IV posted 15 points on a near-even split between both halves. The Lancaster product hit a trio of three-pointers on 50% shooting from long range.
“[Zhuric] changes our team,” graduate forward Henry Coleman III said. “Testament to him, he’s the same person every single day, so it’s not a shock to us when, right off an injury, he comes in and just is Zhuric and he’s putting up the numbers he’s putting up.
“His leadership has also helped us a lot. It’s somebody that we really need on the floor, and he makes a huge impact, not just scoring, but in other things as well.”
The Aggies stayed hot from three-point range
A&M turned up the temperature from beyond the arc and rode it to an insurmountable lead at the break. The Aggies nailed eight of their first 12 three-point attempts and finished the night going 12-of-26 from long range.
Taylor and graduate Nebraska transfer guard CJ Wilcher combined for six three-pointers on a 54.5% clip while senior forward Andersson Garcia and junior F Solomon Washington also found the net from deep. On the opposite end, Lamar hit just one of eight three-point shots in the first half.
“I think those guys that are working to make it part of their game, we call it ‘shooting with Buzz’ shots because it’s the shots that I would shoot,” Williams said. “[Garcia] and [Washington] have improved in that regard.”
After finding most of their scoring in the paint through the first two games of the season, the Aggies showed their versatility on offense from beyond the arc.
“I don’t think we go into a game thinking we’re going to score in the paint or more from three-point,” Coleman said. “I think it’s just the feel of the game. We have really good basketball players out there, so I think guys are always prepared to take the right shot and I think tonight we took the right shot and when people were open they made those shots.”
The Aggies showcased their depth down the bench
A&M’s offense didn’t end when its starters left the game as it gained 51 bench points, spurred by a career-high 15 from Garcia and 13 from Coleman. Garcia complemented his scoring with a team-high nine rebounds, while Coleman added seven boards, including five on the offensive glass. They each hit five of their seven shots.
Garcia’s previous career high of 14 points ironically came against A&M at Reed Arena in 2022 when he played for Mississippi State.
“It’s been a lot of shots that I’ve been putting up during the summer,” Garcia said. “Shoutout to the ocaches that have been trusting me and giving me the confidence to take those shots.
“I’m not trying to only help the offensive rebounding side, I’m trying to be able to provide this stuff to make good passes, making plays for my teammates and be able to provide scoring and stuff like that.”
Wilcher and senior G Manny Obaseki combined for 17 points despite Obaseki only appearing in the second half. With offensive capabilities throughout the lineup, the Aggies have options to find the basket even if it’s not someone’s night.
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Texas
NBA Draft 2026: Chicago Bulls draft Texas standout Dailyn Swain at No. 15
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 23: NBA commissioner Adam Silver shakes hands with Dailyn Swain after he is drafted fifteenth overall by the Chicago Bulls during Round One of the 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 23, 2026 in New York City. (Photo b
AUSTIN, Texas – Former Texas standout Dailyn Swain was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 15th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday night.
What we know:
Swain is a 6-foot-8, 225-pound wing that emerged as one of college basketball’s biggest risers during his lone season with the Longhorns. He transferred to the University of Texas from Xavier University in Ohio. The 20-year-old led Texas in points, rebounds, assists and steals while helping establish himself as a first-round prospect.
By the numbers:
Swain averaged 17.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game during the 2025-26 season. His versatility on both ends of the floor made him one of the nation’s most productive all-around players.
Dailyn Swain #3 of the Texas Longhorns dunks the ball against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at Moda Center on March 21, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos v (Getty Images)
Dig deeper:
As an Ohio native, Swain starred at Africentric Early College in Columbus. He entered the 2025-26 college basketball season largely outside first-round draft projections but steadily climbed the draft boards with his strong play.
Known for his physical frame, defensive versatility and playmaking ability, Swain can impact games in a variety of ways. Outside shooting remains an area for development after he shot 31.7% from 3-point range last season, but evaluators still view him as an NBA-ready wing capable of contributing immediately.
What’s next:
Swain becomes the latest Texas player selected in the NBA Draft and joins a Bulls team looking to add size, toughness and versatility on the perimeter.
The Source: Information in this article was provided from live coverage of the 2026 NBA Draft.
Texas
8 convicted of terrorism charges in Texas immigration center shooting sentenced to decades in prison
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A demonstrator who shot and wounded a police officer outside a Texas immigration center last July 4 was sentenced to 100 years in federal prison Tuesday, while other protesters accused of having links to antifa were given multiple decades in federal prison.
Benjamin Song was convicted of attempted murder last March after prosecutors say he opened fire and wounded a police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado.
The seven other protesters sentenced Tuesday received prison terms ranging from 30 to 70 years.
“Our issue with this case has always been this isn’t a bunch of terrorists. This is a bunch of kids and young adults who really have a really big heart and really wanted their voice to be heard,” Philip Hayes, Song’s attorney, said outside the federal courthouse in Fort Worth. “It was never intended that anybody get hurt. It was never intended that any shots would be fired.”
He said his client would appeal the sentencing.
“Song, aside from this day, has had an impeccable life. A former Marine. A good student,” Hayes said. “He had a lot of good qualities that were just ignored. The judge went ahead and gave as much as he could.”
One of the defendants, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was convicted of corruptly concealing a document and conspiracy to conceal documents. Others pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists rather than take their case to trial.
Prosecutors say the eight are members of antifa, a decentralized anti-fascist organization that has become a target of the Trump administration. They have denied any affiliation and maintain they attended the demonstration to show support for immigrants inside the detention center.
President Donald Trump last fall signed an executive order designating antifa a domestic terrorist organization, even though there is no domestic equivalent to the State Department’s list of foreign terror organizations.
Critics warn the case could have wide-reaching impact on protests given that organizations operating within the U.S. are supposed to be protected by First Amendment free-speech rights.
Short for “anti-fascists,” antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.
Last week, federal prosecutors charged 15 people with impeding the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota. They claimed the demonstrators were members of antifa who conspired against the federal government to block arrests and deportations by setting up blockades around government buildings and throwing chunks of ice at federal vehicles, among other actions.
Marcelo reported from New York.
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Texas
Paxton, Trump adviser’s org win bid to block immigration rule
A federal judge in Texas blocked a Biden administration rule on Monday that allowed immigration judges to indefinitely close a deportation case against immigrants on the same day Texas sued to stop the rule.
The rule, which was adopted in 2024, allowed immigration judges to close a deportation case after hearing arguments from the federal government and the immigrant in deportation proceedings, especially if the person could qualify for a benefit that allows them to stay in the country legally.
But on Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas in Wichita Falls to block the rule with U.S. Judge Reed O’Connor, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush.
The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice was also co-filed by America First Legal Foundation, an organization founded by Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to President Trump who has focused on ways to limit both legal and illegal immigration to the country. America First Legal Foundation also previously filed various lawsuits representing Paxton against the Biden administration’s immigration policies, which helped derail President Biden’s immigration agenda in his lone term.
In this latest complaint, Paxton’s office said in the 43-page lawsuit that the Biden-era rule “effectively grant(s) indefinite amnesty to aliens illegally present in this country.”
Lawsuits usually take several months to years to settle, but in this case O’Connor ruled late on Monday in favor of Texas after the Department of Justice filed its response saying it agreed with Paxton’s office.
Paxton’s office and the DOJ did not respond to immediate requests for comment.
President Trump, in keeping with his campaign promise, has cracked down on immigrants, using many of the federal government’s resources to limit immigration and fast-track deportations, including undocumented people and others who were allowed to be in the U.S. by previous administrations.
O’Connor has been known as conservative leaders’ favorite judge because he has routinely ruled in favor of Paxton, who has strategically filed lawsuits against the Obama and Biden administration.
The fast-paced end to the rule echoes a similar maneuver conducted by the DOJ and Paxton’s office last year, when the federal agency sued Texas over a law allowing undocumented students to qualify for lower tuition rates at public universities. Hours after the suit was filed, Texas also asked Judge O’Connor to find the law unconstitutional, which he did.
After the law was overturned, legal experts said a state working with the federal government so closely for the swift overturning of a state law was unusual and raised questions about collusion.
The quick resolution to the case late on Monday was heavily criticized by immigration law experts.
“This is madness! Deliberate collusion with a federal judge to rapidly erase regulations without any input from affected parties,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with American Immigration Council, a group in Washington, D.C., that advocates for immigrants. “It’s clearly an unlawful act by all, and now litigants will have to seek to intervene in the already-completed lawsuit to overturn his actions.”
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