{"id":214276,"date":"2026-03-21T11:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T11:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214276\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T11:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T11:31:10","slug":"can-texas-basketball-halt-gonzagas-sec-onslaught","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214276\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Texas basketball halt Gonzaga’s SEC onslaught?"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORTLAND \u2014 Gonzaga Bulldogs<\/a>: SEC killer?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That was news to the Texas basketball\u00a0<\/a>locker room Friday,<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas guard Tramon Mark (12) reacts after the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against BYU, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Craig Mitchelldyer\/Associated Press<\/p>\n

The Zags enter Saturday’s West Region showdown with a 3-0 record against the burly SEC this season with wins over Oklahoma, Alabama \u00a0and Kentucky. All came by double digits including a 95-59 steamrolling of the Wildcats at the Music City Madness Tournament in Nashville back in December.<\/p>\n

MORE CED: Why Texas\u2019 $3 million WR Cam Coleman could be worth every penny<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know about that,\u201d said guard Chendall Weaver. \u201cI guess we have to put on for the SEC, one of the best conferences in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Horns were focused but the afterglow of Thursday\u2019s 79-71 first round win over BYU<\/a> stll hung in the air. After enjoying a spirited shootaround at Moda Center aka the home of the NBA\u2019s Portland Trail Blazers, they were enjoying a chill Friday with one another.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ced’s Corner\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sign up for Cedric Golden\u2019s newsletter<\/a> for hot takes and expert analysis each Tuesday on Texas Longhorns football and beyond. \u00a0It’s called Ced\u2019s Corner, from the mind of the American-Statesman\u2019s resident sports columnist, the 2025 NSMA Texas Sportswriter of the Year.<\/p>\n

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Backup forward Nic Coadie \u2014 a great personality \u2014\u00a0 explained the nuances of college football to Round 1 hero Matas Vokietaitis, who fielded questions from reporters about his free throw shooting. Others had their eyes glued to their cell phones. A few student workers took in the final minutes of Utah State\u2019s win over Villanova.<\/p>\n

MORE HOOPS: Check out the Statesman staff\u2019s NCAA brackets<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, word of No. 3 seed Gonzaga\u2019s recent dominance of SEC opponents started to make its way around the room because, eh, this scribe was the one spilling the tea. When I informed Tramon Mark <\/a>\u2014 he of the late heroics against North Carolina State in the First Four play-in gme and the game-clinching free throws against the Cougars \u2014 of the league\u2019s struggles against Gonzaga, he flashed a wry grin.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ll see about that (Saturday),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas head coach Sean Miller reacts on the sideline during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against BYU, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore.<\/p>\n

Amanda Loman\/Associated Press<\/p>\n

Gonzaga\u2019s record aside, Mark and his teammates believe navigating the SEC slate is what toughened them up and put this group in position to reach the Sweet 16 and perhaps beyond with a win over the favored Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

WOMEN’S HOOPS: How to watch Texas-Oregon Sunday<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a crazy schedule in the SEC,\u201d Mark said. \u201cSo just playing in a style like this in March Madness\u2026it\u2019s what we\u2019re built for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forward Cam Heide knows a bit about Gonzaga having been a part of the 2024 Purdue team that beat the Zags twice, including an 80-68 win for the Midwest Regional title that earned the Boilermakers a trip to the Final Four where they eventually lost to Connecticut in the national championship game.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir record speaks for itself with all the tournament appearances they\u2019ve made and how far they\u2019ve gone in the tournament,\u201d Heide said. \u201cThey\u2019ve had some great teams so it\u2019s one of those things where we need to execute the game plan and do what we do to put ourselves in great position.\u201d<\/p>\n

BASEBALL: Texas loses late stunner at Auburn<\/a><\/p>\n

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Even coach Sean Miller<\/a>\u2019s eyebrows lurched toward Canada when I told him outside the locker room of the Zag\u2019s spotless record against teams Texas went 2-2 against.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know either,\u201d he said. \u201cGonzaga is a very good team. They\u2019re 31-3 and they have the seed they have because they earned it. So no matter what, we have to play a great game and be at our best to have a chance to advance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas center Matas Vokietaitis (8) blocks a dunk by \u00a0NC State’s Quadir Copeland\u00a0during the first half in the First Four game of the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament held March 17, 2026 at\u00a0UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dylan Buell\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gonzaga coach Mark Few has led the program to a pair of Final Fours but is still in search of that elusive first title. When asked to describe the style of play his team has encountered over the years against SEC competition, he went with the old credo that size matters.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGreat athletes with great size, which is what Texas has,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have (Vokietaitis) in the middle and they have some big-time wings that have size and athleticism. That\u2019s what the SEC is known for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The guys in the desert have installed the Bulldogs as a touchdown favorite but this has the feel of a nail biter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We can all agree that Texas is playing inspired ball and will walk onto the court with zero fear of the higher seed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Heide provided the perfect reply when asked if Gonzaga\u2019s recent success against the SEC provides any extra incentive.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur motivation is if we lose, we\u2019re done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORTLAND \u2014 Gonzaga Bulldogs: SEC killer? That was news to the Texas basketball\u00a0locker room Friday, Article continues below…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11511,2692,9602,48876,19753,27,29,537,19751,28],"class_list":["post-214276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-cedric-golden","tag-college-basketball","tag-columnists-opinions","tag-march-madness","tag-sean-miller","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-men-s-basketball","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}