Texas made just two Elite Eight appearances over its previous 30 seasons before Vic Schaefer was hired ahead of the 2020-21 season. With Saturday’s 76-54 win over Kentucky, the Longhorns advanced to their third straight Elite Eight and to the regional finals for the fifth time in Schaefer’s six-year tenure.
“We have tremendous support at Texas,” Schaefer said. “Our kids, I think they feel the responsibility of being at the University of Texas. It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s not a place that you go to be good. It’s just not. … We’re chasing greatness.”
Sarah Graves gets love from hometown crowd
The crowd at Dickies Arena chanted for senior Sarah Graves, a Keller product, to shoot the two free throws tied to a Kentucky flagrant foul that came with under a minute remaining in the game.
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Texas coach Vic Schaefer sent Graves to the line and she made both shots.
“She’s just a special kid,” Schaefer said. “I actually asked another player to shoot the free throws and she pointed to Sarah. She said ‘Coach, let her shoot.’ That’s the kind of team I have.”
Historic first half
The Longhorns led Kentucky 48-26 at the half, entering halftime with its largest lead ever in the NCAA tournament. Texas shot 59% from the floor in the first half and outrebounded Kentucky 24-12.
Rori Harmon plays through hand injury
The senior guard finished with 11 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds on Saturday, despite injuring her hand in the first quarter.
“I’ve jammed this middle finger quite a few times this year, so that’s basically what happened,” Harmon said. “It’s pretty swollen right now … I missed two free throws, so I’m going to blame it on that.”
Struggles at free throw line
Texas dominated the boards, the turnover battle and the fast break in its dominant win over Kentucky, but it went 5-of-15 from the line on Saturday.
“We haven’t done that all year,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “And that was one of the focuses. … That was the one thing we probably didn’t do very well. … I’m glad we got to the line 15 times.”
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