No 11 Texas advances to Sweet 16 after upset win over No 3 Gonzaga

Most of March Madness seemed to lack big surprises early on, but the tournament has its first Cinderella.

The 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns pulled off a huge upset of No. 3 Gonzaga with a 74-68 victory to advance to the Sweet 16.

Gonzaga led by as many as eight points, leading 28-20 with 4:29 left in the first half, but the Longhorns finished the half on a 15-5 run to lead by two before heading into the locker room.

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Texas Longhorns forward Cole Bott celebrates with his teammates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in a second round game during the 2026 men’s NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Craig Strobeck/Imagn Images)

Both teams constantly traded buckets and leads in the second half, and neither team led by more than four until Texas took its largest lead of six with a big 3-pointer with 5:30 left in the game.

And a shock alert was officially launched.

The Bulldogs cut the lead to two with three minutes remaining, but Texas responded with a huge three to go up five. Then, leading 69-66, Texas missed two 3-pointers going in and out, and a Gonzaga dunk with about 40 seconds left made it a one-point game.

The Longhorns’ Camden Heide made the shot of his life with a corner 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds remaining. After Gonzaga missed a shot at the other end, Matas Vokietaitis made a layup to earn the victory.

Texas Longhorns guard Tramon Mark (12), guard Jordan Pope (0) and forward Nic Codie (10) react after a play in the second half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during a second round of the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament at Moda Center. (Troy Wayrynen/Imagn Images)

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The Longhorns went 5 of 15 from three, but hit three of their final five, coming up in the clutch. Gonzaga was 4 of 16 from deep.

Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope led the way with 17 points each, and Vokietaitis grabbed nine rebounds. Graham Ike scored 25 for Gonzaga.

This is only the second time that Texas has participated in the Sweet 16 since 2008, also in 2023. As for Gonzaga, these are consecutive seasons of eliminations in the second round.

Nic Codie of the Texas Longhorns reacts against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half of a second round game in the 2026 NCAA Tournament at the Moda Center on March 21, 2026, in Portland, Oregon. (Photos by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA via Getty Images)

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Texas will face the winner of No. 2 Purdue and No. 7 Miami, who face off Sunday at 12:10 p.m. ET.

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