Texas A&M keeps slim NCAA tournament hopes alive with OT buzzer beater

Texas A&M still has a chance to make the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Hassan Diarra hit a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in overtime to give the Aggies an 83-80 win over Florida in the second round of the SEC tournament on Thursday. Here's how Diarra's shot happened.

Texas A&M, quite frankly, should never have been in overtime to begin with and a loss by three or more would have been a brutal beat for bettors who had the Aggies at +2.5. The Aggies had a 67-58 lead with 1:07 to go in regulation after Wade Taylor IV made two free throws. But the Gators scored 12 points to A&M's three in the final 67 seconds to force overtime.

A Florida win would have been a theft. The Gators never led during the game and the last tie before Kowacie Reeves tied the game at 70-70 with 19 seconds left in the second half came when the game was 4-4 in its early minutes.

Texas A&M (21-11) entered the SEC tournament as the No. 8 seed in the conference and potentially needs another win or two to get to the NCAA tournament. The Aggies are widely seen as being on the periphery of the NCAA tournament field in a league that will likely have six or seven teams in the tournament. A loss would have ended any chances of A&M making the Big Dance.

The Aggies will now play No. 1 seed Auburn on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament.