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You had one job, Aggies.
Minutes after the No. 2-seed Texas Longhorns unleashed a barrage of 13 three-pointers to blow out the No. 15-seed Colgate Raiders, the No. 10-seed Penn State Nittany Lions did the same thing in a comfortable 76-59 win over the No. 7-seed Texas A&M Aggies in Des Moines, denying the old in-state rivals a meeting with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
The last time a potential NCAA Tournament matchup between the Aggies and Longhorns was ruined? In Shaka Smart’s first year at Texas when No. 11-seed Northern Iowa banked in a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to slip past the Horns. Sorry for the reminder.
For the Nittany Lions on Thursday, it was guard Andrew Funk bringing the stank from distance, hitting 8-of-10 three-pointers as Penn State finished the first half on a 28-10 run to create separation and never relented in ending the season for Texas A&M. Funk continued the hot streak the Nittany Lions used to unexpectedly roar in the Big Ten Tournament title game in scoring a game-high 27 points as Longhorns acting head coach Rodney Terry looked on, at times seeming unnerved by the three-point shooting display by Penn State.
The performance by Funk allowed do-everything Penn State lead guard Jalen Pickett to serve as a facilitator without forcing anything on offense, scoring 19 points while dishing out eight assists and adding six rebounds.
The Nittany Lions ultimately shot 59.1 percent from three and 48.2 percent overall.
Texas A&M barely showed up in Des Moines with lead guards Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford combining to score 24 points on 7-of-30 shooting (23.3 percent). In the first half, the Aggies managed only two points in the paint while struggling from three-point range in hitting just 3-of-11 shots. Things didn’t improve in the second half for the Aggies.
Texas and Penn State will play Saturday in Des Moines at 6:45 p.m. Central on CBS. The Longhorns are a 5.5-point favorite as of Friday evening, according to DraftKings. Odds/lines are subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details
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Rep the Horns during March Madness with help from Breaking T.
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