PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Texas has become the first team in five years to go from the NCAA Tournament’s First Four to the Sweet 16. Jordan Pope and Matas Vokietaitis each scored 17 points, and Camden Heide hit a game-sealing 3-pointer in the Longhorns’ 74-68 win over Gonzaga on Saturday.
First-year coach Sean Miller’s 11th-seeded Longhorns 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.
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.
