Texas goes from First Four to Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga 74-68 in March Madness

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jordan Pope and Matas Vokieaitis 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), who lost five of six entering the tournament and looked underwhelming in their First Four win over N.C. State, will face either No. 2 seed Purdue or No. 7 seed Miami on Thursday in the West Region semifinals 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.

“Our ride has never been easy, but we fought the good fight the whole way and we did it again,” Miller said.

Graham Ike led third-seeded Gonzaga (31-4) with 25 points, but the Bulldogs struggled to generate much secondary scoring.

Coach Mark Few’s Zags bowed out in the second round for the second straight year after reaching the Sweet 16 in nine consecutive tournaments, a run that included two losses in the national title game.

After Ike’s dunk got the Zags within 69-68 with 40 seconds left, Miller called timeout and drew up a play that got Heide free in the corner. T...