The Texas Longhorns keep pushing along through the NCAA Tournament, starting as one of the teams that found themselves in the First Four, and now are a win away from making it into the Sweet Sixteen.
The Longhorns have rattled off back-to-back NCAA Tournament wins after surviving against the NC State Wolfpack in the First Four and then, in the First Round, pulled off an upset, taking down the BYU Cougars to punch their spot in the Round of 32.
Now, Texas gets ready to face another challenging opponent with a trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament on the line, taking on the No. 3-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs, who post a 31-3 record and took care of business in their First Round matchup, winning 73-64 over Kennesaw State.
Texas Longhorns vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs
Texas Longhorns center Matas Vokietaitis keeps the ball from BYU Cougars center Keba Keita in the second half. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images
The Longhorns received a big-time performance from center Matas Vokietaitis, who made his presence down low in the paint all game long against the Cougars. The big man ended the night with a team-high 23 points while shooting 10 of 17 from the field to go along with 16 rebounds.
Continuing his good start to the NCAA Tournament was Tramon Mark, who also put in a solid performance to help Texas upset BYU on Thursday. The veteran guard ended the game with 19 points, shooting 6 of 13 from the field along with four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a career high four blocks.
The Longhorns have been much better defensively in the first two games of the tournament, and they’ll have to be just as good, if not better, taking on a Gonzaga team that has one of the top offenses in the country, averaging 84.8 points per game, making the Bulldogs one of the top-20 scoring offenses in the nation.
Texas will have to keep its focus on forward Graham Ike, who heads into the game on Saturday as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, averaging 19.7 points per game while shooting 56.9 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The Longhorns will look to survive another round in the NCAA Tournament and punch their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen in year one under Sean Miller as they take on the Bulldogs in Portland, OR, from the Moda Center at 6:10 p.m. CT. Be sure to check back here at tipoff for live updates as the game goes on.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.