PORTLAND, Ore.– matatus vokiaitis He had 23 points and 16 rebounds and the No. 11 seed texas defeated the sixth seeded player BYU 79-71 Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, overcoming 35 points from Cougars forward AJ DiBantsa.
after needing a spanking nc state To advance to the first round of the First Four on Tuesday, Texas (19-14) advances to face the third-seeded gonzaga or number 14 seed kennesaw state in the West Regional on Saturday.
“One word I would use to describe our group is resilient,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “As we got into this tournament in Dayton, I think all of us that came here really got a grip of, you know, let’s really stick together and play at the highest level.”
DiBantsa played every minute of the game but it wasn’t enough as BYU (23-12)’s season – and perhaps his college career – was over. DiBantsa was two points shy of tying BYU’s NCAA Tournament record for points in a game, which was held by Danny Ainge and Jimmer Fredette.
“We understood he didn’t have the ability to score like anybody else. But we talked about the jump shot he made, which was the win for us,” Miller said. “What we couldn’t afford was for him to get Delin (Sven) in a lot of trouble or for him to blow out our entire team.”
The freshman who leads the nation with 25.3 points per game will be a candidate for the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft if he leaves school.
“I love this place. I’m glad I chose here, I definitely made the right decision,” DiBantsa said about his season at BYU. “It’s tough to deal with adversity as far as the season goes, but I wouldn’t prefer to do it with anyone else.”
traman markHe added 19 points against BYU, who hit a fadeaway jumper from just inside the 3-point line with 1.1 seconds remaining for a 68-66 win on Tuesday.
After Texas jumped out to an early 10–4 lead, BYU rallied on a layup to take a brief 21–20 lead. Robert Wright IIIBut that was the Cougars’ only lead of the game.
Voikiaitis’ dominance remained a theme throughout the night as the second-year center from Lithuania grabbed more rebounds (11) than the Cougars as a team in the first half. Texas had no answer for DiBantsa’s star power, but BYU had no answer for Voikitaitis, who had 15 points on 6-for-10 and 11 rebounds in the first half.
“We did a much better job in the second half, but it was extremely disappointing that they mistreated our team in the first half,” BYU coach Kevin Young said.
Mark’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave Texas a 46–37 lead at halftime.
“The last-second shots I get, I feel comfortable and they’re going in, so that’s all I can say,” Mark said.
The Longhorns took their largest lead at 68–51 with 11:08 remaining after a goaltending call on DiBantsa, but they immediately outscored the Cougars by scoring eight straight points to make the score 68–59 with 8:02 remaining.
Dyabantsa hit a 3-pointer to make the score 70–62 with just over five minutes left.
After a BYU timeout, Aleksej Kostić’s 3-pointer made it 75–71 with 1:12 remaining, but that was as close as BYU got in the final moments.
Voikitaitis went 3 for 11 from the free throw line, which opened the door for BYU. He missed two shots with 31 seconds remaining but blocked Wright’s shot on BYU’s next possession. Mark was fouled after catching the incoming loose ball and made both free throws to end the game 77–71.
