PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jordan Pope and Matas Vokieaitis each scored 17 points, Camden Heide hit a game-sealing 3-pointer and Texas became the first team in five years to go from the NCAA Tournament’s First Four to the Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga 74-68 on Saturday.
First-year coach Sean Miller’s 11th-seeded Longhorns (21-14), who lost five of six entering the tournament and looked underwhelming in their First Four win over N.C. State, will face either No. 2 seed Purdue or No. 7 seed Miami on Thursday in the West Region semifinals 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 team 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.
Houston 88, Texas A&M 57
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Emanuel Sharp scored 18 points, Chris Cenac Jr. had 17 points and nine rebounds, and seed Houston rolled past Texas A&M 88-57 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday to reach the Sweet 16 for the seventh consecutive year.
Milos Uzan added 15 points for the Cougars (30-6), the No. 2 seed in the South Region. Houston will play in its home city on Thursday against either No. 3 seed Illinois or No. 11 seed VCU, and coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad — which lost in the national title game to Florida last year — again looks like an opponent nobody wants to play.
Josh Holloway scored 12 points in a reserve role for Texas A&M. The 10th-seeded Aggies (22-12), who beat St. Mary’s in the first round, struggled against Houston’s aggressive interior defense. The Cougars won the rebounding battle 46-29, had 19 offensive boards and blocked seven shots.