Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. — Jordan Pope and Matas Vokietaitis each scored 17 points, Camden Heide hit a game-sealing 3-pointer and Texas became the first team in five years to go from the NCAA tournament's First Four to the Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga 74-68 on Saturday.
First-year coach Sean Miller's 11th-seeded Longhorns (21-14) will face either No. 2 seed Purdue or No. 7 seed Miami on Thursday in the West Region semifinals in San Jose, California. The last First Four team to reach the Sweet 16 was UCLA, which made it all the way to the Final Four in 2021.
Graham Ike led third-seeded Gonzaga (31-4) with 25 points.
Jalen Warley added 10 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Mario Saint-Supéry and
Emmanuel Innocenti both finished with nine points.
After Ike's dunk got the Zags within 69-68 with 40 seconds left, Heide knocked down his three-pointer, giving Texas a four-point lead with 14.7 seconds left.
Gonzaga led by eight points in the first half, but Texas led 35-33 at halftime and made it tough for the Zags to score down the stretch. Dailyn Swain dunked to give the Longhorns a 57-54 lead with 7:33 left. Pope's 3-pointer with 5:28 remaining put Texas up 62-56. Ike's layup closed Gonzaga within 66-64, but Pope answered with a 3 to put Texas ahead 69-64.
The Bulldogs were making their 27th straight appearance in the tournament, and they played in front of a friendly crowd that chanted "Let's Go Zags!" after
Davis Fogle's jumper made it 28-20 in the first half.
Gonzaga beat No. 14 seed Kennesaw State on Thursday in the first round.
