PORTLAND, Ore. — Matas Vokietaitis had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and No. 11 seed Texas knocked off sixth-seeded BYU 79-71 on Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, overcoming 35 points from Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa.
After needing to beat N.C. State on Tuesday in the First Four just to reach the first round, Texas (19-14) advanced to face either third-seeded Gonzaga or No. 14 seed Kennesaw State on Saturday in the West Regional.
“One word I would use to describe our group is resilient,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “As we entered this tournament in Dayton, I think all of us up here really came to grips with, you know, let’s really go out playing at the highest level we can, sticking together.”
Dybantsa played every minute of the game but it wasn’t enough as BYU (23-12) had its season – and perhaps his college career – come to an end. Dybantsa was two points shy of tying BYU’s NCAA tournament record for points in a game, held by Danny Ainge and Jimmer Fredette.
“We understood that he has the ability to score like nobody else. But what we talked about was a jump shot by him was a victory for us,” Miller said. “What we couldn’t afford was that he puts Dailyn (Swain) in great foul trouble or he fouls our entire team out.”
The freshman who led the nation in scoring 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 happy I chose here, I definitely made the right decision,” Dybantsa said of his season at BYU. “As far as the season, it’s tough dealing with adversity, but I’d rather do it with nobody else.”
Tramon Mark, who hit a fadeaway jumper from just inside the 3-point line with 1.1 seconds left for a 68-66 victory on Tuesday, added 19 points against BYU.
After Texas jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, BYU rallied to take a brief 21-20 edge on a layup by Robert Wright III, but it was the Cougars’ only lead of the game.
Voikietaitis’ dominance was a theme all night as the sophomore center from Lithuania grabbed as many rebounds (11) as the Cougars had as a team in the first half. Texas had no answer for the star power of Dybantsa, but BYU had no answer for Voikietaitis, 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 super disappointing that he basically manhandled our team in the first half,” BYU coach Kevin Young said.
Mark’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave Texas a 46-37 halftime lead.
“The last-second shots that I get, I feel comfortable and they’re going in, so that’s all I can say,” Mark said.
The Longhorns took their biggest lead at 68-51 with 11:08 left after a goaltending call on Dybantsa, but he immediately rallied the Cougars by reeling off eight straight points to make it 68-59 with 8:02 left.
Dybantsa hit a 3-pointer to make it 70-62 with just over five minutes left.
After a BYU timeout, Aleksej Kostic’s 3-pointer with 1:12 left made it 75-71 but that was as close as BYU would get in the final moments.
Voikietaitis went 3 for 11 from the free throw line, opening the door for BYU. He missed two shots with 31 seconds left but blocked Wright’s shot on BYU’s next possession. Mark was fouled after grabbing the ensuing loose ball and made both free throws to ice the game, 77-71.
