PORTLAND, Ore. — Matas Vokietaitis is far from a finished product, but the Texas basketball post turned out to be a real problem for BYU in Thursday night’s 79-71 NCAA Tournament win. The sixth-seeded Cougars just started their offseason earlier than expected because of Vokietaitis’ prowess.
The sophomore likes to bang around in the lane, like a 7-foot, blonde Lithuanian bull on the hardwood floors of a china shop.
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11-TEXAS VS. 3-GONZAGA
When/where: 6:10 p.m. Saturday in Portland, Ore.
TV/radio: truTV/TBS; 1300, 98.1 FM.
“I love to play physical with a lot of contact,” said Vokietaitis who spent most of the evening engaging in mini-collisions with BYU’s 6-foot-8. 231-pound enforcer Keba Keita. “It’s what I like to do.”
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Vokietaitis’ 23 points and career-high 16 rebounds proved crucial in the first-round win at Moda Center. And now with third-seeded Gonzaga waiting for Saturday’s second-round matchup in this West Region, the resurgent Longhorns (20-14) are feeling all kinds of confident despite nearly missing March Madness altogether after hitting the skids with five losses in their last six games.
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Their big man was essential on the biggest stage Thursday night after coming over from Florida Atlantic in the offseason. Vokietaitis gives the 11th-seeded Longhorns something they lacked in 2025: an anchor in the paint that opponents cannot ignore.
Texas center Matas Vokietaitis (8) posts up against North Carolina State’s Ven-Allen Lubin during a First Four game March 17, 2026 at the NCAA Tournament at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
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“It helps his teammates and myself tremendously,” said UT guard Jordan Pope. “Just to have someone that creates such a presence and dominance down there, down low, whether he’s scoring, getting rebounds or blocking shots. He does so much stuff for us, like he did tonight, and if he keeps playing like that, the sky’s the limit for not only him, but our team.”
Vokietaitis’ first year in Austin has been a bit of a rollercoaster, but he saved his finest — and, at times, also most frustrating — moments for Texas’ biggest game of the season to date. His breakout moment didn’t come without struggle. He missed seven straight free throws over the final 7 minutes as the Horns clung to a precarious lead.
MORE HOOPS: Check out the Statesman staff’s NCAA brackets
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Vokietaitis is a 69% free throw shooter, so to see him committing assault on the Moda Center rims with an array of bricks came as a surprise not only to himself, but to his head coach, who attempted every trick in the book during timeouts to get the youngster back on track..
Texas center Matas Vokietaitis (8) talks with head coach Sean Miller during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against BYU, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore.
Amanda Loman/Associated Press
“I tried head-butting him in the chest. I tried to encourage him. I tried to leave him alone,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “But he couldn’t hit the strike zone. It’s a shame because he had such a great performance otherwise, and that’s what we have to get focused on.”
Miller called perhaps the greatest timeout of his coaching career after BYU’s Aleksej Kostic buried a 3-pointer to cut Texas’ lead to 75-71 with 58 seconds left. By then, Vokietaitis’ yips had taken on a life of their own and as the Cougars were boring in to foul him intentionally and place him back on that torture chamber that was thinly disguised as a free-throw line, Miller signaled for the timeout to thwart the season’s first Hack-a-Matas.
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“I’ll take credit for that,” Miller said. “I saw what was coming.”
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Fortunately, the Horns were able to laugh about it after the game because Tramon Mark drilled four free throws to preserve the win instead of burying their heads in their hands as first-round losers on the charter flight back home. They live to play on and Vokietaitis spent plenty of Friday’s session at the stripe.
“I mean, I’m usually making free throws,” he said. “I never miss that much. Maybe today was a bad day and I didn’t do good, so I just need to work more on that and that’s it.”
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PORTLAND, OREGON – MARCH 19: Matas Vokietaitis #8 of the Texas Longhorns attempts a layup while being guarded by Keba Keita #13 of the BYU Cougars during the first half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 19, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)
Soobum Im/Getty Images
Gonzaga presents a familiar challenge
The next challenge is formidable in Gonzaga, which is different from past teams from Spokane. Coach Mark Few’s bunch has traditionally been one of the better 3-point shooting groups in the country, but 2026’s success has come through different methods. The Zags are making only 33% of their triples, which ranks 187th nationally. They pulled away from first-round opponent Kennesaw State in Thursday’s nightcap, but the outside shots weren’t falling.
The Zags missed 15 of their 18 3-point attempts and won because they attacked the paint, something the Horns and Vokietaitis, who has struggled with fouling all season, will have to encounter. The Zags aren’t as long overall, but Vokietaitis will have his hands full with 6-foot-9, 250-pound power forward Ike Graham, who bullied his way to 19 points and eight rebounds against Kennesaw.
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Gonzaga’s guards are adept at driving to the bucket, an area the Horns have struggled to defend all season though we have witnessed Texas’ best perimeter defense of the year over these last two games. While Miller credits the tough SEC schedule with helping toughen up Texas for the postseason, the Zags (31-3) already own wins over SEC teams Oklahoma, Alabama and Kentucky.
Texas’ offense still runs through perimeter players Dailyn Swain, Mark and Pope, but Vokietaitis’ emergence has taken a bit of pressure off the trio.
Look for the Horns to get him involved early as they attempt to reach their first Sweet 16 since the 2024 team that made it to the Elite Eight before bowing out to Miami.
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If the free throws fall, the Horns and their rebounding bull stand a great chance to wreck’s Gonzaga’s china shop.