Texas Longhorns Upset Gonzaga Bulldogs in Thrilling Finish to Advance to Sweet Sixteen
There will be a Cinderella for this NCAA tournament, and they reside in the West region of the March Madness bracket as the 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns held on to beat the 3rd-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs in a 74-68 final to advance to their second Sweet Sixteen in three years.
Texas Uses Offensive Explosion to Pull Out Win
It’s rare to see a great offensive game from a Sean Miller-coached team, but the Longhorns offense would light the Bulldogs defense up for the majority of the game. Texas would end the game shooting over 52% from the field, a feat not easily attained against a solid Gonzaga defense. The Longhorns would need all of that offensive brilliance, as neither team was able to get a firm leg up on the other until the closing seconds of the game.
One other way the Longhorns were able to find their stride on offense was because of their fantastic ball security, as they only committed a total 5 turnovers in the win. When it’s this time of the season, the winner of the turnover battle often times is the one who comes out with the win, and Texas was able to win that fight decisively tonight. This also allowed the Longhorns to shrink the court for the Bulldogs, as Gonzaga finished with only 2 points off of turnovers and 0 fastbreak points in the game.
The main driver of the Longhorns offensive attack in the win was star big man Matas Vokietaitis, who saved his best game of the season for Texas tonight. Vokietaitis would finish with a near double-double of 17 points and 9 rebounds in the win. Vokietaitis would also get some much-needed support in the game, as backup forward Nic Codie would have a near-perfect game off the bench, as he scored 12 points on 5 for 6 shooting from the field.
Graham Ike Nearly Carries Gonzaga to Win
Although it was just a one-man show on offense for the Bulldogs with Graham Ike serving as the sole offensive threat, that approach nearly worked for Gonzaga tonight. Ike would finish with 25 points, as only one other player for the Bulldogs scored in double figures. That other Bulldog was guard Jalen Warley, who scored 10 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in the loss for Gonzaga.
The Bulldogs would outperform the Longhorns in quite a few stat categories in the box score, such as steals, rebounds, and assists, but would be unable to overcome one particular stat: their three-point shooting percentage. The rim was not very kind to the Bulldogs sharpshooters tonight, as they shot just 25% from beyond the arc in the loss. Gonzaga would also make one fewer three-pointer than Texas, which would prove to be a huge deciding factor in the six-point loss.
The aforementioned lack of points off turnovers also heavily favored the Longhorns, as Texas scored 11 points off the Bulldogs’ 7 turnovers in the game. While Gonzaga did many things that would’ve otherwise given them a win at the very end, the Bulldogs were simply a victim of the margins that can be a death kiss in March.
Texas Looks to Keep Their Dream Tourney Run Alive
After a whirlwind few days in the city of Portland, the Longhorns will now have some time to both game-plan and rest before their next game on Thursday. Texas will have to wait until Sunday afternoon to find out who their Sweet Sixteen opponent will be, as the 2nd-seeded Purdue Boilermakers and 7th-seeded Miami Hurricanes will face off tomorrow for the right to play Texas. The winner of that game most assuredly won’t be looking past this scorching hot Texas team come Thursday.
