No. 22 Texas A&M men’s basketball battled to a 72-67 win over Texas Tech at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Sunday afternoon. The Aggies and Red Raiders met on the hardwood in the regular season for the first time since 2012 as part of the US LBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge.
Here are a few takeaways from A&M’s gutsy victory, its first at Dickies Arena in four trips under coach Buzz Williams.
After the Aggies jumped to a hot start and grabbed their largest lead of the game at 26-15, the Red Raiders roared back and made things close the rest of the way. Texas Tech launched a 16-8 run to go into halftime trailing by just three and came out of the break with that same momentum.
Senior guard Elijah Hawkins’ three-pointer gave the Red Raiders their first lead at 38-36 before they stretched it to 5 at the 13:59 mark. Senior guard Zhuric Phelps put the Aggies back in front with a shot from long range, and they never trailed the rest of the way.
“To be in an atmosphere like this with the crowd [the way] it was, it was a one-of-a-kind type of experience,” senior guard Jace Carter said. “This is why you play college basketball. For us to be having fifth-year guys, fourth-year guys, the type of people we have, when it gets to crunch time, games like this, we love it. It’s why we’re at Texas A&M, it’s why we’re playing Texas Tech in December and we’re excited we got a win.”
A&M overcame a sellout crowd of 12,642 that leaned heavily in Texas Tech’s favor. Graduate guard Wade Taylor IV led the way with 19 points while Carter had 16 with with a trio of shots from beyond the arc. Phelps added 12 points and junior forward Solomon Washington brought down nine rebounds with a plus-minus of 20 in 31 minutes.
“It’s been a tough start to the season for me,” Carter said. “I’ve had to reflect on other stuff and kind of just dig deeper into my faith, honestly, and not shy away from the work, not shy away from the controversy. I had to be a grown man and receive the truth.”
The Aggies withstood a three-point barrage from the Red Raiders as super senior guard Chance McMillian and sophomore guard Kevin Overton combined for 40 points and nine shots from beyond the arc.
“Coach always preaches [to] just be us, stick to our foundation,” Phelps said. “It wasn’t that different from that last game that we played. Just being true to our defense and being true to us got us the win.”
The Aggies has their best game of the year when it came to limiting turnovers, an area that has hindered their success this season. A&M gave the ball away just nine times, their fewest of the season. It came on the heels of surrendering its most turnovers of the year with 18 in a win over Wake Forest.
Sunday was the Aggies’ first game of the season in which they limited their giveaways to 10 or less. If they can continue to showcase ball security and take care of the rock, it should open up more opportunities on the offensive end. On the other end of the floor, A&M forced 18 Texas Tech turnovers, the Red Raiders’ most of the season. They were held to their fewest points this year.
“I think [associate head] coach Devin [Johnson], who’s our defensive coordinator, continues to do really impressive things,” Williams said. “One of the things that I just mentioned is he studies, as do all of our coaches, but he studies what he thinks the plan should be. And then we install the plan and practice the plan, and then, in the preparation, he begins to teach our guys and show them pictures of what our adjustments to the plan are going to be.”
Sunday showed just how conducive trips to the charity stripe are to A&M’s scoring fortunes. It sank its second-fewest free throws of the season with 13 after attempting just 18 shots. Thanks to intentional fouls down the stretch, the Aggies avoided their season-low that came in their opening loss to UCF, when they sank eight of 14.
A&M entered the day attempting 26.4 free throws per game, good for 14th in the nation. It’s become a cornerstone of the Aggies’ scoring output, albeit dependent on their ability to draw fouls and, better yet, make the free throws. They hit just five of their first 10 attempts before nailing their next eight.
Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Texas is planning its grid around an unprecedented wave of AI-driven power demand that the state’s energy regulator says may not fully materialize on projected timelines.
In a recent filing to the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) projected statewide power demand could surge to nearly 368 GW by 2032 – more than four times the state’s current peak demand record of 85.5 GW. But the filing also contains an unusual warning from the grid operator itself.
“ERCOT has concerns with using the preliminary load forecast values for the Reliability Assessment and any other transmission and resource adequacy analysis,” the organization wrote in its April 2026 long-term load forecast filing.
The organization added that it may seek adjustments to the forecast based on “actual historical realization rates or other objective, credible, independent information.”
ERCOT has already begun adjusting for realization risk internally. In its 2025 long-term load forecast report, the grid operator said the “average peak consumption per site was 49.8% of the requested MW” and applied that factor to projected non-crypto data center load additions in some planning models.
ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said the forecast reflects “higher-than-expected future load growth” tied to changing large-load planning dynamics.
Texas has emerged as a hotspot for data center growth, with numerous new projects reshaping the energy market and challenging grid capacity. (Image: Alamy)
Texas has emerged as a key data center market, driven by its abundant land, competitive energy prices, and favorable regulatory environment. This combination has positioned the state as a magnet for hyperscale operators and AI infrastructure investments. The state is estimated to account for around 15% of all data center connectivity in the US.
Recent and proposed AI data center campuses tied to OpenAI, Oracle, Meta, Crusoe, CoreWeave, Soluna, and other hyperscale operators are reshaping Texas grid planning. Developers have proposed large campuses across North Texas, Abilene, West Texas, and the Houston corridor, many requiring hundreds of megawatts of capacity and, in some cases, dedicated onsite generation to bypass interconnection delays. That buildout pushed ERCOT’s non-crypto data center forecast above 228 GW by 2032.
Developers are continuing to pursue Texas aggressively because ERCOT still offers faster timelines and more flexible market structures than many competing regions. Several proposed campuses pair AI infrastructure with onsite gas generation, colocated power assets, or flexible-load arrangements to navigate mounting transmission constraints.
Utilities across the US are grappling with AI-driven electricity growth, but ERCOT’s projections stand apart for both scale and uncertainty. PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator, expects summer peak demand to climb above 241 GW over the next 15 years as data centers and electrification expand. ERCOT, by contrast, projects demand potentially reaching nearly 368 GW by 2032, driven largely by proposed non-crypto data center loads. At the same time, the grid operator openly questions how much of that demand will materialize on schedule.
Similar pressures are emerging elsewhere. In California, CAISO’s latest transmission plan cited “data center load growth” as a driver of major grid upgrades and described interconnection volumes as “unmanageable” before recent queue reforms.
A recent Grid Strategies report reached a similar conclusion nationally, warning that the “data center portion of utility load forecasts is likely overstated by roughly 25 GW” compared with market-based deployment estimates.
Ihab Osman, an independent strategist specializing in data center and other mission-critical infrastructure, said the distinction is less about “real” versus “fake” AI demand and more about “announced versus deliverable demand.”
“A large share of the current AI/data center planned load should be treated as paper megawatts until it is validated through physical gates,” Osman said, citing factors including site control, transmission deliverability, generation availability, turbine and transformer supply, permitting, financing, and credible energization schedules.
Osman said ERCOT’s forecast is best understood as “a stress-test map, not as a fait accompli build map.”
The filing shows Texas regulators and grid planners struggling to distinguish operating AI infrastructure from a rapidly expanding pipeline of proposed projects.
“The vast majority” of ERCOT’s projected load growth comes from submissions provided by transmission and distribution utilities, according to the filing. Those requests include hyperscale AI campuses, GPU clusters, and other large industrial loads seeking future grid capacity reservations.
Alison Silverstein, a former senior adviser to the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said “a large proportion” of projects in ERCOT’s large-load interconnection queue have already been canceled, particularly among smaller developers facing long interconnection delays and high turbine and transformer costs.
ERCOT has also signaled that many projects may not materialize on the timelines shaping transmission planning.
The grid operator said summer 2026 peak demand is likely to land between roughly 90.5 GW and 98 GW – far below the preliminary 112 GW figure embedded in the long-term forecast. ERCOT said it appears “unlikely” that new large-load projects and existing site expansions will ramp quickly enough to push demand that high this year.
The filing suggests uncertainty around AI-related load growth is beginning to influence broader infrastructure planning assumptions. By 2032, ERCOT projects non-crypto data centers reaching 228 GW of demand, compared with just 9 GW from cryptocurrency mining and roughly 3 GW each from hydrogen/e-fuels and oil-and-gas-related industrial growth.
The move also suggests the regulator is no longer simply forecasting AI-driven growth, but also working to determine how much of the proposed boom can actually be financed, supplied, interconnected, and energized before utilities commit billions to long-lived infrastructure.
AUSTIN, Texas — Bravo is developing a new reality series set in the Texas Hill Country, the network announced on Instagram Monday.
“Secrets, Lies, Texas Wives” would follow a group of women in Boerne.
According to the network’s description, the series centers on “a tight-knit circle of glamorous women” navigating family life, ranching, and social obligations in a community rooted in rodeo and tradition. They promise drama with “forbidden romances” and relationship angst.
No premiere date or cast have been announced.
If picked up, the series would join Bravo’s long-running portfolio of region-specific reality franchises, which includes the “Real Housewives” lineup.
AUSTIN, Texas — With the average price of a gallon of gas in Texas topping $4, some leaders from Austin to Washington, D.C., are backing a temporary pause on gas taxes as a way to deliver relief.
Veronica Valdez Rodriguez was pumping gas at a southeast Austin station on Tuesday. She said the rising costs are becoming unmanageable.
“They’re sky high,” Rodriguez said. “I can barely get by, you know? It’s too expensive.”
She said she is spending $40 more every week on gas.
According to AAA Texas, the average cost of a regular gallon of fuel stood at over $4.01 in the Austin area on Tuesday, $1.24 higher than the average one year ago.
President Donald Trump said he is working to pause the federal gas tax, which is 18 cents per gallon.
A reporter asked the president on Monday how long the tax would be suspended.
“Until it’s appropriate. It’s a small percentage, but it’s, you know, it’s still money,” Trump said.
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In Texas, an 18-cent-per-gallon pause could add up to savings of about $2 to $3 on an average tank of gas.
Support for a federal pause is coming from both parties. State Rep. and U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico (D-Austin) backed the idea last month.
“Lowering prices at the pump should be a bipartisan commitment,” Talarico said in a statement Monday.
Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said he didn’t know the details of the president’s plan.
“There’s a difference between a temporary suspension and a permanent suspension,” Cornyn said Monday. “I don’t know exactly what the President has in mind. I think a temporary suspension getting through this sort of bumpy time because of uncertainty about energy prices, I can live with that.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa is calling for a state gas tax pause as well. The state tax currently sits at 20 cents per gallon, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
The state pause is also being urged by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who has called on Governor Greg Abbott to act.
“Governors in Indiana, Georgia, and Utah have already stepped up to provide relief for their citizens, and I once again renew my call for Governor Abbott to follow the lead of President Trump and act decisively for Texas families,” Miller wrote on Monday.
The governor’s office, however, said a state gas tax pause is not an option under his executive authority.
In a statement, the governor’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, wrote in response to Miller:
There’s a reason Sid Miller lost his election, it’s because he doesn’t shoot straight with Texans. Any suggestion that the Texas governor is authorized by law to suspend a gas tax is entirely uninformed or purposefully misleading. If the Texas governor could suspend taxes, he would have suspended the property tax years ago.
At the federal level, the Bipartisan Policy Center said a gas tax holiday would require an act of Congress. The group also estimated that a five-month pause could cost as much as $17 billion.
Some drivers, like Rodriguez, said any break would help.
“Pause the taxes!” she said.
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