Madison Booker dominates Oregon with 40 as No. 1 Texas rolls on

Austin, Texas — Rory Harmon Used to be texas‘ The five-year starting point guard and coach knows the pulse of Vic Schaefer’s team very well. on sunday he said he saw something madison booker‘Eyes on No. 1 Texas’ 100-58 No. 8’s second-round dominance oregon.

“I saw something coming today,” Harmon said. “I knew something special was going to happen.”

Then, he watched Booker take over, electrifying the Moody Center, Texas’ home court, by scoring 40 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and adding five assists and two steals with no turnovers to send Texas to its third consecutive Sweet 16, where it will face the winner of Monday’s Kentucky-West Virginia game.

“He’s a generational talent,” Schaefer said. “They don’t come that often.”

Booker’s effort was not only the highest mark in his career, but it was also a Texas record in an NCAA Tournament game. According to ESPN Research, Booker became the fourth player to score 40 points and have at least five rebounds and five assists in the tournament, joining Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark (who did so three times), Stanford’s Candice Wiggins, who did so in 2008, and Long Beach State All-American Cindy Brown in 1987.

“I could say I’m really surprised he did it tonight, but I’m not,” Harmon said. “So I hope to see it move forward.”

Schaefer said he is constantly leaning on Booker to be more aggressive on offense, telling him to “hunt, hunt, hunt.” But while he said she often looks to pass, teammates said after the game that Booker is unselfish. At the end of the game, with Harmon on the bench, Booker glanced to find a teammate ready for a shot.

“She enjoys the pass as much as the bucket,” Schaefer said. “I had to tell him, ‘Hey, you turned down a 12-footer to get [a teammate] Of 18 feet. Don’t do this.

Those 12-footers are what make Booker so dangerous. On Sunday, he shot 8 of 14 (57%) on midrange jumpers. He said that this team has the ability to deliver the ball to Booker in places where it is not possible to stop him.

“This team is really aggressive,” Schaefer said. “They understand the spacing, they understand where each other are, and they understand where Madison needs the ball. Look, [she went] 14 out of 21. That’s a tough couple for guys. She just jumps all over you.”

Harmon led the attack on defense with five steals on Sunday, and Texas held Oregon to just eight points in the third quarter, defeating the Ducks by 42, their worst loss in NCAA Tournament history. Harmon and Booker combined to score or assist 64 of the Longhorns’ 100 points, more than Oregon as a team.

After the Longhorns’ 44th consecutive home win and setting a Texas record, Schaefer said the combination of this team’s defensive tenacity and its scoring ability gives it a chance to participate in the team’s first NCAA title in 40 years.

“When you make shots like this team can, it makes coaching a lot easier,” he said. “If they keep doing this, they will be in trouble.”