NBA: No. 11 Texas proves too tall an order for vanquished No. 6 BYU

PORTLAND, Ore. — Matas Vokietaitis had 23 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while Tramon Mark added 19 points and four clutch free throws as 11th-seeded Texas captured its second NCAA Tournament win in four days, defeating No. 6 BYU 79-71 in the West Region on Thursday.

Dailyn Swain contributed 14 points and Jordan Pope scored 11 for the Longhorns (20-14), who battled through a dominant performance by BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa. Dybantsa, a projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft if he leaves school, finished with 35 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 11 of 25 field goals and all 12 of his free throws.

Texas had built a 68-51 lead with 11 minutes left after Dybantsa was called for goaltending on Mark’s layup, but the Cougars responded with a 15-2 run sparked by Dybantsa, closing the gap to 70-64 with just over four minutes remaining. Vokietaitis scored again to make it 72-64 before Robert Wright III’s layup narrowed it to 72-68 with 2:07 left. Pope’s three-pointer then extended the lead to 75-68 with 1:29 remaining.

Aleksej Kostic’s three-pointer brought BYU within 75-71 with 1:17 left, but Texas held on despite Vokietaitis missing all seven of his free throws in the second half. Vokietaitis blocked Wright’s drive with 23 seconds left, and Mark sealed the victory with four free throws in the final moments.

The Longhorns dominated the boards, finishing with a 40-31 rebounding advantage, including nine offensive rebounds for Vokietaitis. Texas had also been strong on the glass in their 60-66 win over North Carolina State in the First Four earlier this week. The team arrived in Portland just before 6 a.m. Wednesday, less than 24 hours before the game.

—Jack Magruder, Field Level Media/Reuters