DAYTON, Ohio — A reporter Tuesday night asked Tramon Mark how it felt to hit the fourth game-winner of his career.
Mark not so modestly held up five fingers.
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Killers kill and Mark took no prisoners.
With his college basketball career hanging in the balance, Texas’ southpaw guard saved the two biggest shots of his career for what could have been his last game.
Matas Vokietaitis, left, of the Texas Longhorns blocks a dunk by Quadir Copeland of the NC State Wolfpack during the first half in the First Four game of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 17, 2026 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Dylan Buell/Getty Images
He made them both, including a sweet turnaround jumper with a single tick left to lift the Longhorns to a 68-66 win over North Carolina State. After disastrous finish to the regular season, the Horns are roaring into the NCAA field of 64.
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Texas guard Tramon Mark (12) celebrates after making the game-winning shot against North Carolina State during the second half in the First Four game of the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament held March 17, 2026 at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
Dylan Buell/Getty Images
What 1-5 skid? They’re back.
Austin holds a huge festival every year but Texas is doing their partying elsewhere. We can call it North by Northwest.
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“Nothing has come for easy for us this year,” said coach Sean Miller whose inaugural season in Austin has come with enough peaks and valleys to make the Grand Canyon jealous. The Horns aren’t a great bet to finish their season in Arizona but for one glorious night, they delivered in the clutch.
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Basketball legend Charles Barkley, who served as a co-analyst with broadcast icon Dick Vitale for TruTV, congratulated Miller courtside and wished him good luck.
“Thanks,” Miller said. “We showed some heart, Chuck.”
In a span of a few seconds it went from another late-game collapse to Miller Time. His Horns will enter Thursday’s first-round matchup against BYU not only with some renewed confidence after losing five of their last six games and nearly losing their way out of even this First Four play-in but will walk into Portland’s Moda Center with battle scars that illustrate the grit and determination it took to get to this point.
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And what about that defense? The Horns held the Wolfpack 17 points under their scoring average, and while NC State make some hellacious, contested 3-pointers in the clutch just to keep the game on the table, the Horns gave a blueprint on what kind of defense they can play when engaged. Can they duplicate such an effort?
The good part is we won’t have to wait until next season to find out.
How the Horns held off the Wolfpack
Anyone who has watched the Longhorns are painfully aware of the palpitations and hoop sweats that come with this group. Tuesday was no different as Texas’ 62-53 lead was whittled down to one point after burly forward Darrion Williams made North Carolina State’s third 3-pointer in a span of 86 seconds. The Horns, who lost seven games in which they scored 80 points this season, had seen this story play out in horrible fashion before but there was still hope when Wolfpack guard Tre Holloman converted only one of two free throws to tie it at 66 with 18 seconds left.
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Mark got the ball on the right wing and the scouting report says to never allow him to go to his left because deadly on the midrange pull-up jumper. Holloman drew the defensive assignment and he did his homework. As the seconds ticked down, shaded his coverage to Mark’s left, taking away the drive. After dribbling between his legs, Mark switched up and leaned to his right and let loose with a dagger jumper from 20 feet out.
Mark has crushed Texas A&M on three occasions — once at Arkansas and twice here — but the latest heroics have no peer.
“This ranks at the top,” he said.
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And kudos to the Horns, who didn’t wilt despite taking some huge body shots from a quality opponent. They held their water and figured out a way to get it done, thanks in large part to to one of the most dangerous late-game players in the country.
“In games like this, your emotions can waver up and down but I felt like throughout the whole game our team kept our emotions in check,” Mark said. “We did what we needed to do. Credit to them, they hit some tough shots. It’s not like we just had mistakes, they just made tough shots down the stretch to cut the lead. But we kept our composure and we got the win.”
Mark, who was a total nonfactor in the SEC Tournament loss to 12-19 Ole Miss — he missed five of his eight field goal attempts and played just 21 minutes — was magnificent down the stretch and senior guard Chendall Weaver played his best game ever with his first double-double.
The 11 points and 10 rebounds don’t come close to what the 6-foot-3 Energizer Bunny contributed in totality to his team. Weaver was all over the place. If he wasn’t chasing down loose balls or getting a critical tap in traffic to keep possessions alive, he was playing in-your-face defense despite giving up size to some of the best 3-point shooters in the country.
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“Knowing it could be my last basketball game, I’m trying to leave it all on the court,” Weaver said. “So I did whatever my team needed. I tried to bring it.”
Every team needs a Chendall Weaver.
The old guys delivered this one
Texas isn’t here if not for two of most experienced players. Leading scorer Dailyn Swain never got going offensively but he made important free throws at money time and grabbed some grown-man rebounds while the OGs did the bulk of the offensive heavy lifting with an assist from big man Matas Vokietaitis, who had 15 points and eight rebonds before fouling out with about seven minutes remaining.
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“Just knowing that they have my back as much as I have theirs, it’s a great feeling,” Swain said. “So I have so much confidence and I have a lot of fun playing with these guys for sure. I’m happy for them that it didn’t end tonight.”
Some may say the Horns underachieved in 2026 but there are almost a boatload of teams who would love to be them at this moment. We’re all a product of our experiences and Texas is a 19-14 team that went through more than its share of disappointments, including losing three straight games with the knowledge that single win in either one would have deemed a second straight to Dayton unnecessary.
Previous disappointments aside, the Horns are still breathing. The biggest spring party in America is about to start and it’s by invite only.
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North By, here they come.