No. 11 seed Texas upsets No. 3 Gonzaga 74-68 in NCAA men's tournament second round
In the second round of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns defeated the third-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs 74-68 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on March 21, 2026. The win advanced Texas to the Sweet 16.
Gonzaga led by as many as eight points in the first half, reaching 28-20 with 4:29 remaining. Texas responded with a 15-5 run to end the half, taking a two-point lead into halftime.
The second half featured multiple lead changes, with neither team leading by more than four points until Texas extended to a six-point advantage on a three-pointer with 5:30 left.
Gonzaga narrowed the gap to two points with three minutes remaining, but Texas hit another three-pointer to lead by five. After Texas missed two three-point attempts at 69-66, Gonzaga dunked to make it a one-point game with 40 seconds left. Camden Heide then drained a corner three-pointer with 14.7 seconds remaining, and Matas Vokietaitis added a layup after Gonzaga missed to seal the victory.
Texas shot 5-for-15 from three-point range, making three of its final five attempts. Gonzaga finished 4-for-16 from beyond the arc. Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope led Texas with 17 points apiece, Vokietaitis adding nine rebounds. Graham Ike scored 25 points for Gonzaga.
The University of Texas Longhorns, members of the Big 12 Conference, reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2023, when they lost to Miami in overtime.[1] Gonzaga, from the West Coast Conference, has now exited in the second round in back-to-back seasons.
The NCAA tournament is a 68-team single-elimination event determining the national champion.[2]
Texas will face the winner of the matchup between No. 2 Purdue and No. 7 Miami, scheduled for Sunday at 12:10 p.m. ET.
Sources
- Wikipedia. "Texas Longhorns men's basketball." Accessed October 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Longhorns_men%27s_basketball
- NCAA.com. "Men's March Madness." Accessed October 2024. https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness/basketball-men/d1
