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.
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.
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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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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