AUSTIN, Texas (KBTX) – With just less than six minutes to play, Texas coach Rodney Terry ran down the Moody Center sideline towards the official, six fingers waving in the air.

To his right, the Texas A&M men’s basketball team had taken a page out of a football defensive coordinator’s playbook and stacked a 3-3 defense at the top of Texas’ 3-point line. The rules of basketball, however, say that’s one too many on the court.

A technical foul that turned into a five-point play for Texas became a black eye on the 13th-ranked Aggies. The Longhorns rode the momentum shifting play to a record 22-point comeback win over A&M, 70-69.

“It gave us a chance to score without having to be guarded. You can’t guard that free-throw line and we’ve got a guy that can make free throws,” Terry said with a grin after the rivalry win.

Less than an minute earlier, A&M guard Wade Taylor IV had dribbled around a Texas defender, stepped back behind the arc and hit an off-balance 3-pointer to put the Aggies up by 14. It wasn’t quite the same as the deep shot Taylor hit there minutes into the second half that put the Aggies up by a game-high 22, but it extended the A&M lead, no less.

After an errant pass from Taylor turned the ball over to the Longhorns, a trio of Aggie players stood from the front of the scorers table to make their entrance into the game. Somebody failed to exit.

As soon as Texas guard Tramon Mark felt the ball placed in his hands, he fired it to fellow guard Julian Larry, initiating Terry’s march to the nearest official. Taylor made his best effort to run off the court without being noticed, but couldn’t evade the punishment. There wasn’t any indication after the game who was supposed to sub out in that situation, as Williams declined to comment on the play.

“I think you’ll have to ask the coordinator of officials,” Williams said. “I don’t want to — that’s the best way for me to handle it.”

The five-point play sparked a 20-5 Texas run that closed out the comeback that tied Texas’ largest, set in 2013. Needing two points to pick up their first leadoff the game, Texas went their veteran guard Mark, who drove down the left side of the lane and launched a runner that kissed of the glass and fell through the net with three seconds remaining.

Mark has made a living off downing the Aggies. In two games against A&M while with Arkansas last season, he posted point totals of 35 and 26 and hit a buzzer-beating shot for the Razorbacks.

“I don’t know what it is, actually,” Mark said with a laugh. “I don’t know what it is. When the ball comes to me last second, it’s a good shot going up.”

A&M’s last hope was a near half-court heave by Taylor that clanked off the rim and fell astray.

Texas had only one attempt, which was missed, from the charity stripe in a first half that was uncharacteristically dominant for the Aggies. Two slow starts this month required double-digit comebacks, including an 11-point rally against Ole Miss on Wednesday. Williams said prior to Saturday’s rivalry matchup he wanted to see the same execution in the opening 20 minutes of the game.

The Aggies answered with eight first-half 3-pointers which led to 43 first-half points. Only A&M’s 44 first-half points against Alabama bested the total in conference play, to date.

The Aggies finished the game hitting a season-high 12 from behind the arc and at 52% clip and dominated the rebounding battle 43-27. A&M’s 18 offensive rebounds led to 20 second-chance points.

In the second half, the Aggies sent Texas to the free-throw line 16 times, with 14 falling through the net. Beyond the pair that Johnson hit for the substitution violation, Aggie forward Henry Coleman III was hit with a technical foul early in the second half for comments to an official. Both of the penalty tries were hit.

Over the last two games, A&M has not had more than nine free throw attempts, well below their 25.1 per game average. Saturday, the Aggies hit only three of their eight attempts.

Williams again recommended questions on free throws be asked of the director of officials.

“There’s a lot of lessons for us to learn,” Williams said of the game as a whole. “We’ve been on the other side of this the last couple of weeks and I don’t think that, at this level, you can ever think that anything is over. It’s never as easy as you think. And, at times in the second half, we weren’t accountable for what we have to do.”

Taylor finished with a game-high 15 points, followed by 13 from guard Manny Obaseki, who sat for eight minutes through the second half of the game. Williams declined to comment on the junior guard’s reduction in playing time after the break.

Johnson netted 30 for the Longhorns, including a 4 for 10 clip from behind the arc and a perfect 10 for 10 from the free-throw line.

The win, complete with a court-side trophy presentation, was revenge for the game won by the Aggies earlier this month in Reed Arena and the not “nice words” the A&M players were chirping throughout Saturday’s game, Johnson said.

“It meant a lot to us, especially just getting the win because it’s the next game, but they were talking trash, especially the deficit of the loss,” he said. “Just going into halftime, we knew we couldn’t go out like that.”

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Buc-ee’s, an iconic Texas-based convenience store and gas station chain known for their expansive interiors and unique product offerings, will be coming to Wisconsin.

The proposed store would boast over 73,000 square feet of retail space and would be located in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee located approximately 78 miles from Chicago.

The chain, while based in Texas, currently operates stores in Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado and Missouri.

Wisconsin is among 10 states that Buc-ee’s has new locations planned for.

The fan-favorite travel center chain has received nationwide recognition for its beef jerky bars, snacks such as Beaver Nuggets and the “cleanest restrooms in America.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Buc-ee’s to Oak Creek, as they choose our growing city for their first-completed store in Wisconsin along the critical I-94 corridor,” Oak Creek Mayor Dan Bukiewicz said in a release. ““This exciting development not only strengthens our position as a key hub for travelers but also brings new opportunities for local businesses and residents. We look forward to seeing the positive impact Buc-ee’s will have on our community.”

The store would feature 120 gas pumps and EV charging, the release said. The store is anticipated to open in early 2027, marking the “first Buc-ee’s to be built in the state.”

In 2023, the chain previously announced a proposed site in DeForest, Wisconsin, approximately 16 miles north of Madison. Earlier this year, reports say the plans had been delayed.

“Buc-ee’s is excited to have the opportunity of adding Oak Creek to our expansion into Wisconsin,” Stan Beard, Jr., Buc-ee’s Director of Real Estate and Development, said in the release. “We have plan submittals, commission approvals and final city council decisions to be made before we can put a shovel in the ground, and that process officially begins with the January 28 Plan Commission meeting. The folks of Oak Creek have been a pleasure to work with, and we look forward to partnering with them for many years to come.”

A City Plan Commission meeting is scheduled for next week, the release said, followed by public hearings, Oak Creek officials said.

1 Mike Bidwill — While the fires in California were dominating the news and our hearts, Mike Bidwill, owner of the Arizona Cardinals, chose to do something good. He sent two planes to Los Angeles to pick up players, families and pets and bring them to Arizona for the game. The team used the Cardinals’ training facility for the game between the Rams and the Vikings. The Rams organization arranged for about 40 buses to help fans get to games.

Here is a big shout out to Bidwill for helping the families and players escape from the devastating fires for at least a while.

Barry Rothschild, Dallas/Preston Hollow

2 Texas firefighters and Greg Abbott — Re: “Happy to Help When the Fires Need Dousing — And Gov. Abbott, thanks for not taking potshots at Newsom, others,” Jan. 17 editorial.

Thanks to The Dallas Morning News editorial board for recognizing Gov. Greg Abbott for deploying more than 100 Texas firefighters to help with the Los Angeles wildfires. And thanks also for recognizing the bravery and self-sacrifice of the Texas firefighters who traveled to California to help.

As our fellow citizens in California deal with the devastating effects of wildfires on their communities, let us reflect back to February and March 2024, when the largest wildfire in Texas history burned more than 1,500 square miles of rangeland in the Panhandle northeast of Amarillo. How would our fellow Texans have felt while they were dealing with the crisis at hand if states who didn’t align with us politically took potshots at us?

During a crisis we are not red or blue states, we help those in need. Thanks to Texas for pitching in.

David Alan Jones, Farmers Branch

3 Chris Packard — After a long and successful for-profit career, Chris Packard turned his formidable operations skills to the nonprofit sector. After rising through the ranks at McDonald’s from the counter to own six franchises, Chris transitioned his leadership skills to the nonprofit world. As interim CEO of seven nonprofits, he most recently led the Transition Resource Action Center, which supports foster children aging out of care and other homeless youth.

Chris is known to lead nonprofits with the efficiency of a Costco and the heart of Mother Teresa. Formerly a part of the now-closed CitySquare, TRAC had several leadership changes in a short timeframe and needed a crackerjack interim CEO. Enter Chris.

Chris hit the ground running, immediately implementing TRAC’s strategic plan. His management style won over staff. He spent equal time in both the Dallas and Fort Worth locations while improving the work environment, workflow, organization chart and job descriptions seemingly overnight.

Serving on the CEO search committee, Chris helped hire and ultimately transitioned our new CEO, Nicole Binkley.

Thank you Chris, from our youth, staff and board members for your effective leadership.

Madeline D. McClure, Dallas/Bluffview

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