PORTLAND, Ore. — Matas Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope scored 17 points apiece and Camden Heide came off the bench to hit a key 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left to lift No. 11 seed Texas to a 74-68 victory in second round of the NCAA West Region on Saturday.
With the Longhorns leading by one after a dunk by Gonzaga’s Graham Ike, Texas called a time out with 32 seconds left and inserted Heide, whose 3-pointer from the right corner pushed the lead to 72-68.
Mario Saint-Supery missed a desperation Gonzaga 3-pointer and Vokietaitis hit a layup to close the scoring.
West Coast Conference Player of the Year Ike had 25 points and Jaden Warley had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Saint-Supery had nine points and five assists.
Texas is the first First Four winner to win at least three games in the tournament since 11th seeded UCLA won five straight to reach the 2021 Final Four.
The Longhorns (21-114 face a potential SEC rematch in the Sweet Sixteen in San Jose on Thursday, where they will face the winner of the Arkansas-High Point game to be played later Saturday.
Gonzaga (31-4), the first No. 3 seed to lose in the tourney, had won at least two games in the NCAAs in nine of the previous 10 seasons. The Bulldogs were making their 27th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Ike played with four fouls in the final six minutes. He picked up his fourth on a Nic Codie on a put-back attempt. Codie’s two free throws made it 59-56, and after an Ike miss, Pope made a 3-pointer to give the Longhorns their largest lead to that point, 62-56.
Ike brought Gonzaga within 66-64 when he followed his own miss with three minutes left. Pope followed with his third three to make it 69-64.
Saint-Supery made two free throws and Ike’s dunk with 40.3 seconds remaining brought Gonzaga within one, 69-68.
Codie had 12 points and Dailyn Swain had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. Vokietaitis had nine rebounds.
–Jack Magruder, Field Level Media
