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Most of March Madness seemed to lacking big upsets in the early going, but the tournament has its first Cinderella.
The 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns pulled off a huge upset against No. 3 Gonzaga with a 74-68 win to move on to the Sweet 16.
Gonzaga led by as many as eight points, going up 28-20 with 4:29 left in the first half, but the Longhorns ended the half on a 15-5 run to lead by two going into the locker room.
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Texas Longhorns forward Cole Bott celebrates with teammates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs during a second-round game during the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Craig Strobeck/Imagn Images)
Both teams constantly exchanged buckets and leads in the second half, and neither team led by more than four until Texas got out to its largest lead of six with a big 3-pointer with 5:30 to go in the game.
And an upset alert was officially on.
The Bulldogs cut the deficit to two with three minutes to go, but Texas answered with a massive three to go back up five. Then, up 69-66, Texas missed two 3-pointers that went in and out, and a Gonzaga dunk with around 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 left. After Gonzaga missed a shot on the other end, Matas Vokietaitis made a layup to ice the win.
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 game in the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Troy Wayrynen/Imagn Images)
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The Longhorns went 5-for-15 from three but hit three of their final five, showing up in the clutch. Gonzaga was 4-for-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 just the second time Texas has made the Sweet 16 since 2008, also doing so in 2023. As for Gonzaga, it’s back-to-back seasons of second-round exits.
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 Moda Center March 21, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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Texas will face the winner of No. 2 Purdue and No. 7 Miami, who battle on Sunday at 12:10 p.m. ET.
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