PORTLAND, Ore. — Matas Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope scored 17 points apiece and Camden Heide hit a key 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left to lift No. 11 seed Texas to a 74-68 victory over No. 3 Gonzaga in second round of the NCAA West Region on Saturday.
With the Longhorns leading by one after a dunk by the Bulldogs’ Graham Ike, Texas called a timeout with 32 seconds left and inserted Heide, whose 3-pointer from the right corner pushed the lead to 72-68.
“The way I saw it was, on the last possession of the game, just to have that other guy out there who is capable,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “.. in Cam’s case, you can make the case he’s our best shooter. To not have him in there, it just didn’t make any sense. What happens is exactly what happened. The play gets broken, a guy makes a drive, pivots. The next thing you know, you find someone in that situation. It was great to see him knock it in. I might have even said, ‘I’m putting you in to make a shot.’ When it happens, it is almost too good to be true.”
Mario Saint-Supery missed a desperation Gonzaga 3-pointer and Vokietaitis hit a layup to close the scoring.
West Coast Conference Player of the Year Ike had 25 points and Jalen Warley had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Saint-Supery had nine points and five assists.
Texas (21-14) is the first First Four winner to win at least three games in the tournament since 11th-seeded UCLA won five straight to reach the 2021 Final Four. The Longhorns will play the winner of No. 2 Purdue and No. 7 Miami in the West Region semifinals on March 26 in San Jose, Calif.
“Being part of the Sweet Sixteen, it is a huge difference in being in that round and just entering the tournament,” Miller said. “Having the opportunity to play for another week. Our ride has never been easy, but we have fought the good fight today.”
Gonzaga (31-4), the first No. 3 seed to lose in the tourney, had won at least two games in the NCAAs in nine of the previous 10 seasons. The Bulldogs were making their 27th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Ike played with four fouls in the final six minutes. He picked up his fourth on a Nic Codie on a put-back attempt. Codie’s two free throws made it 59-56, and after an Ike miss, Pope made a 3-pointer to give the Longhorns their largest lead to that point, 62-56.
Ike brought Gonzaga within 66-64 when he followed his own miss with three minutes left. Pope followed with his third three to make it 69-64.
Saint-Supery made two free throws and Ike’s dunk with 40 seconds remaining brought Gonzaga within one, 69-68.
Codie had 12 points and Dailyn Swain had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. Vokietaitis had nine rebounds.
–Jack Magruder, Field Level Media
