PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — 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.
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.
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.
Texas (19-14) will face either third-seeded Gonzaga or No. 14 seed Kennesaw State on Saturday in the second round of the West Regional.
Texas won its First Four matchup with N.C. State on Tuesday night. Tramon Mark hit a fadeaway jumper from just inside the 3-point line with 1.1 seconds left for a 68-66 victory. Mark added 19 points against BYU.
After Texas jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, BYU rallied to take a brief 21-20 lead 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.
Mark’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave Texas a 46-37 halftime lead. 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 grabbing a defensive rebound, Dybantsa took the ball coast to coast and was fouled. He made the free throws to make it 70-64.
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.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
