03/21/26 09:20:00
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03/21 21:19 CDT Texas goes from First Four to Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga 74-68
in March Madness
Texas goes from First Four to Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga 74-68 in March Madness
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) --- Jordan Pope and Matas Vokietaitis each scored 17
points, Camden Heide hit a game-sealing 3-pointer and Texas became the first
team in five years to go from the NCAA Tournament's First Four to the Sweet 16,
beating Gonzaga 74-68 on Saturday.
First-year coach Sean Miller's 11th-seeded Longhorns (21-14), who lost five of
six entering the tournament and looked underwhelming in their First Four win
over N.C. State, will face either No. 2 seed Purdue or No. 7 seed Miami on
Thursday in the West Region semifinals in San Jose, California.
The last First Four team to reach the Sweet 16 was UCLA, which made it all the
way to the Final Four in 2021.
"Our ride has never been easy, but we fought the good fight the whole way and
we did it again," Miller said.
Graham Ike led third-seeded Gonzaga (31-4) with 25 points, but the Bulldogs
struggled to generate much secondary scoring.
Coach Mark Few's Zags bowed out in the second round for the second straight
year after reaching the Sweet 16 in nine consecutive tournaments, a run that
included two losses in the national title game.
After Ike's dunk got the Zags within 69-68 with 40 seconds left, Miller called
timeout and drew up a play that got Heide free in the corner. The 6-foot-7
junior, who played just 13 minutes, confidently knocked down his only basket of
the game, giving Texas a four-point lead with 14.7 seconds left.
"He's our best 3-point shooter. To not have him in there, I just didn't think
it made any sense, because what happens is exactly what happened," Miller said.
"The play gets broken, a guy makes a drive, pivots, Next thing you know, you
find someone."
Vokietaitis capped the scoring with a breakaway layup.
Gonzaga, a 6 1/2-point favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook, led by eight
points in the first half, but Texas rallied and led 35-33 at halftime.
Dailyn Swain dunked to give the Longhorns a 57-54 lead with 7:33 left.
Pope's 3-pointer with 5:28 remaining put Texas up 62-56. Ike's layup closed
Gonzaga within 66-64, but Pope answered with a 3 to put Texas ahead 69-64.
"We were both kind of trading punches," Few said. "Both teams were having a
hard time getting stops down the stretch, and we just couldn't get one on that
last possession. I would have liked to see if we could capitalize in our
coverage, but Heide had that big 3, and that was about really what it came down
to."
It's the 15th Sweet 16 appearance and first since 2022-23 for Texas, and the
ninth for Miller, who got to five regional semifinals with Arizona and three
with Xavier.
The Bulldogs were making their 27th appearance in the tournament, and they
played in front of a friendly crowd that chanted "Let's Go Zags!" after David
Fogle's jumper made it 28-20 in the first half.
Gonzaga beat No. 14 seed Kennesaw State on Thursday, but this result could lead
to some angst in Spokane, Washington, before the Zags join the reconstituted
Pac-12 ahead of next season.
Texas, meanwhile, rode the momentum after knocking off likely NBA lottery pick
AJ Dybantsa and BYU in the first round. The Longhorns became the first-double
digit seed in this largely chalky tournament to get through the first two
rounds.
"We just needed a chance," said Swain, who finished with 11 points. "We didn't
end the regular season in the way we wanted to, but we never gave up on each
other and that drew us closer. We all took a different approach, we all kind of
stepped up our play, and as you can see, had a more balanced attack in this
postseason."
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and
coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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