Purude’s Jack Benter (14) and Braden Smith react against the Miami Hurricanes during the first half of a second-round NCAA Tournament game March 22, 2026 at Enterprise Center in St Louis, Missouri.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
PORTLAND, Ore. — Sure, Texas basketball may be an 11th seed that had to survive the First Four just to make the final 64 of the NCAA Tournament. And Purdue may be a No. 2 seed trying to reach the national championship game for the second time in three seasons.
But don’t call the Longhorns (21-14) a “Cinderella,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said a day before Texas vanquished his Zags 74-68 in a second-round game Saturday. Few’s assertion proved true in Portland, and it applies in a Sweet 16 matchup Thursday with Purdue at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.
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GOLDEN: Unlikely heroes push Texas back into Sweet 16
The Longhorns have beaten two higher-seeded teams in No. 6 BYU and No. 3 Gonzaga in convincing fashion behind post Matas Vokietaitis (18.3 points per game in the postseason) and a suddenly scrappy defense that has held its three NCAA Tournament foes to an average of 68.3 points a game, which is almost eight points less than the Longhorns allowed in SEC play.
Will Texas beat Purdue (29-8) and advance to the Elite Eight for the second time in the past four years? Here are three things to know about the Boilermakers, plus a prediction of Texas vs Purdue:
Record-setting point guard Braden Smith leads prolific offense
Purdue senior guard Braden Smith became the NCAA’s all-time assists leader during the Boilermakers’ 104-71 romp Friday over Queens University in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Smith passed Bobby Hurley with his second assist of the night — and his 1,077th of a brilliant collegiate career — on a bounce pass to senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn. Smith ended that game with 1,083 career assists, and he added another eight assists in Sunday’s 79-69 win over Miami.
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The 6-foot senior can do more than dish the ball, though. He’s averaged 15 points a game over the past two seasons and boasts a career shooting rate of 39% from 3-point range. He runs an offense that averages 82.2 points a game and shoots 50.3% from the floor, which ranks 10th in the nation.
PHOTOS: Longhorns run at the 2026 NCAA Tournament
Guard CJ Cox injures knee vs. Miami
Starting guard CJ Cox exited the Boilermakers’ win with 17 minutes, 4 seconds left in second half after getting fouled on a fastbreak attempt. He was on the ground for a significant amount of time before walking off the floor. He immediately went to the locker room. Purdue coach Matt Painter told reporters after the game that “he hyperextended his knee. We’ll kind of see how treatment goes and everything to see what his status is. That’s just what our trainer told me.”
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Cox had 11 points, one rebound and one assist before his injury. For the season, the 6-3 sophomore averages just 8.4 points a game but had reached double-figure points in five of his nine previous games.
Texas forward Cam Heide familiar face for Purdue
Texas forward Cam Heide, who helped clinch the Longhorns’ win over Gonzaga with a late 3-pointer, spent three seasons playing for Painter and Purdue before transferring to Texas after last season. Now a redshirt junior, the 6-7 Heide started just eight games with the Boilermakers and enjoyed his best season a year ago, when he averaged 4.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19.7 minutes a game.
This season, Heide has started 28 games and averages 5.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 22.4 minutes a game.
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Texas basketball vs Purdue prediction
Purdue, 76-71. It’s hard to bet against Texas considering that the Longhorns are peaking at the right time. But Smith is the type of player that always seems to execute when the pressure mounts, and his clutch play down the stretch could be the difference in the Sweet 16.