As a reward for winning its First Four game in Dayton, Ohio, a nail-biting 68-66 victory over NC State on Tuesday night, No. 11-seeded Texas has the unenviable task of flying across the country to Portland, Ore., and trying to stop AJ Dybantsa of No. 6 BYU, the top scorer in men’s basketball this season.
Good luck, Longhorns.
UT and coach Sean Miller are happy to still be dancing, though. Like the opening First Four game, which saw No. 16 Howard win its first NCAA Tournament game in program history and advance to play top-seeded Michigan, this one got a little wild at the end, fitting for an event known for its drama.
After NC State’s Tre Holloman made one of two free throws to tie the score at 66 — the first tie of the night — Texas guard Tramon Mark hit a tough, fall-away 19-footer with 1.1 seconds left to snatch back the lead.
ARE YOU KIDDING!!!
TEXAS GOES BACK IN FRONT 😱 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/UE1EUjYjLc
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2026
NC State threw a long inbound pass but couldn’t get a clean look, and the Longhorns’ bench raced onto the floor to celebrate.
Informed after the game that Tuesday was his fifth career game winner — a stat he seemed surprised by — Mark was nonplussed.
“I work on those type of shots all the time,” he said. “So it’s just routine for me, really.”
Four Texas players scored in double figures, led by Mark’s 17. He also snagged five rebounds and two steals and blocked two shots. Chendall Weaver came off the bench and added 11 points, 10 boards and two steals. NC State’s Darrion Williams led all scorers with 21 points, but he scored only 7 in the second half. Texas dominated the rebounding battle 45-33.
It was the Longhorns’ second win over NC State this season after beating the Wolfpack 102-97 in November in Maui, Hawaii. Miller said the NCAA Tournament can “bring some anxiety,” a nod to both teams’ shooting less than 40 percent on the night, but he credited the Longhorns’ tough conference schedule for Tuesday’s win.
“Playing in the SEC, you have to be resilient,” said Miller, in his first year at UT. “Those 18 or 19 (conference) games, it prepares these guys.”
Ose Okojie had a game-high 23 points in the Bison’s 86-83 victory, the program’s first in the NCAA Tournament. (Dylan Buell / Getty Images)
Howard makes history, advances to face No. 1 Michigan
Ose Okojie scored 23 points, and the Bison earned their first NCAA Tournament win by edging the University of Maryland, Baltimore County 86-83.
It was Howard’s third NCAA Tournament appearance under seventh-year coach Kenny Blakeney. The Bison play Michigan on Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y.
The loss snapped UMBC’s 12-game winning streak. The Retrievers, forever known as the first 16th-seeded program to knock off a No. 1 seed in the men’s tournament — with a hilarious social media feed to boot — hadn’t lost a game since Jan. 29.
And for a bit, it looked like they weren’t going to lose Tuesday, either.
UMBC trailed the entire second half, but after Howard missed the front end on consecutive one-and-ones, DJ Armstrong Jr. drained a 3-pointer to bring the Retrievers within 83-81 with 43 seconds to play. But Bryce Harris, a fifth-year senior and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year, had an answer. Harris hit a tough turnaround jumper in the lane with 13 seconds left to give Howard some breathing room.
WHAT A SHOT!
HOWARD LEADS BY FOUR 🔥#MarchMadness @HUMensBB pic.twitter.com/QWbp5YMK8N
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2026
UMBC’s Jah’Likai King got to the rim quickly to cut it to 2 again, and then Howard hit one of two free throws to take a 3-point lead with 5.5 seconds remaining. Armstrong got a decent look at a deep 3, but it was off, and Howard escaped with the win. It was Howard’s ninth straight victory.
The 54-year-old Blakeney, who won back-to-back national championships as a player at Duke, said afterward he wasn’t thinking at all about his own legacy in leading Howard to its first NCAA Tournament victory.
“I’m so proud of these guys,” he said on the truTV broadcast. “It’s not about me, it’s about their student experience. … These guys are gonna remember this for the rest of their life, just as I will, and the Howard community will.”
Harris finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for Howard, and Cedric Taylor III added 16 points. Howard led for more than 37 minutes and by as much as 14 early in the second half.
King and Armstrong led UMBC with 19 and 17 points.
As for how Blakeney and the Bison might “shock the world” and upset the Wolverines, he just smiled and laughed.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” he said.