No. 11 Texas Longhorns upset No. 3 Gonzaga 74-68 in NCAA tournament second round
The 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns defeated the third-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs 74-68 in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on March 21 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, advancing to the Sweet 16.
Gonzaga built an eight-point lead at 28-20 with 4:29 left in the first half, but Texas closed the half on a 15-5 run to lead by two points at halftime.
The second half saw repeated lead changes, with neither team ahead by more than four points until a Texas three-pointer created a six-point margin with 5:30 remaining. Gonzaga narrowed the gap to one point with a dunk 40 seconds from the end, but Camden Heide hit a corner three-pointer with 14.7 seconds left. After Gonzaga missed, Matas Vokietaitis added a layup to secure the victory.
Matas Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope led Texas with 17 points apiece, Vokietaitis also recording nine rebounds. Graham Ike topped Gonzaga's scoring with 25 points.
Texas made 5 of 15 three-point attempts, including three of their last five. Gonzaga shot 4 for 16 from beyond the arc.
The win marks Texas' first Sweet 16 appearance since 2010, when the Longhorns, then coached by Rick Barnes, lost to Michigan State.[1]
Gonzaga, competing in the West Coast Conference, has now exited in the second round for three straight tournaments following losses in 2023 and 2024.[2]
The Texas Longhorns represent the University of Texas at Austin in the Big 12 Conference.[1] The Moda Center, home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, has hosted NCAA tournament games in past years.[3]
Texas will face the winner of No. 2 Purdue versus No. 7 Miami, scheduled for Sunday at 12:10 p.m. ET.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Texas Longhorns men's basketball", accessed October 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Longhorns_men%27s_basketball
- Wikipedia, "Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball", accessed October 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzaga_Bulldogs_men%27s_basketball
- Wikipedia, "Moda Center", accessed October 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moda_Center
