WATCH: Houston Cougars pay tribute to late star Reggie Chaney during second round of 2024 March Madness

Houston Cougars lost Reggie Chaney due to fentanyl overdose in August last year. He was 23.

Chaney was about to move overseas to start his professional career when tragedy struck. The six-foot-eight forward played three seasons for the Cougars after spending his first two with Arkansas. He averaged 4.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 167 games.

Chaney was a starter in the 2021 team that reached the Final Four and was one of Houston's leaders while he was on the team. From then on, Houston's rallying cry was to do it for Chaney and to pay tribute for his contributions to the team. The Cougars placed the No. 32 patch at the upper right side of their jerseys.

In their NCAA Tournament second-round game with Texas A&M, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson made them remember who they were fighting for in a heartfelt speech during halftime. The No. 1 seed Cougars were marred in a close fight with No. 9-ranked Texas A&M when Sampson asked his team what would Chaney do.

Jamal Shead, who finished with 21 points and 10 assists in the Cougars' 100-95 overtime win over the Aggies, said that the speech fuelled Houston to another impressive win, which moved them to the Sweet 16.

Here's the video:

After the game, Sampson elaborated on what he said during that moment.

"It was the first time I've done this this year. I hadn't mentioned Reggie Chaney other than when we watched him on film. I brought Reggie up at halftime and said, 'What would Reggie do, J'Wan (Roberts)? What would Reggie do, Ja'Vier (Francis)?'"

"Because I didn't think anyone of those guys played very good in the first half. So I asked them about Reggie and as soon as I said it, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jamal got really emotional. Ramon (Walker Jr) got really emotional. That one was for Big Reg," he said.

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How Houston Cougars made Sweet 16 with OT win over Texas A&M Aggies

Houston and Texas A&M needed an extra five minutes to determine the winner in their second-round duel on Sunday.

Houston made sure that their former teammate would have been happy as they outclassed Texas A&M to make it to the Sweet 16.

Emmanuel Sharp dropped a game-high 30 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including 7-of-14 from the 3-point area. Shead also added five rebounds and played almost the entire game before fouling out in overtime and LJ Cryer finished with 20 points.

The Cougars shot 51.5% from the field and 70% from the foul line as they got themselves into a war with the Aggies, who forced an extension at 86-86.

Tyrece Radford led Texas A&M with 27 points and 15 rebounds, while Wade Taylor IV added 21 points and seven rebounds but was 5-of-26 from the field, thanks in part to Houston's stingy defense on him.

The Cougars meet No. 4 Duke in the Sweet 16 on Mar. 29 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.