Camden Heide made just one shot in No. 11 Texas’ 74-68 upset of No. 3 Gonzaga on Saturday night.
But it was the shot of his life.
Heide, a 6-foot-7 junior guard who transferred from Purdue, checked out of the West Region game with 17:42 remaining and did not return until there were 32 seconds on the clock. The Longhorns had possession, leading 69-68 after Gonzaga star Graham Ike punched home a dunk to put the pressure on.
Coach Sean Miller wanted another shooter on the floor in case his play broke down, which is precisely what happened. With the ball in the hands of 6-foot-5 senior guard Tramon Mark, Heide spaced to the corner. Mark maneuvered to the paint, then rifled a pass out to Heide, who caught it and launched a 3-pointer in one smooth motion.
Onions.
“It was great to see him knock it in. I was really, really happy for him,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “I might have even said, ‘I’m putting you in to make a shot.’ And when it happens, it’s almost too good to be true. Cam has been a huge part of our team this year. He’s had some ups and downs, and I don’t think anybody deserves to make that shot more than him. He’s just a fantastic teammate.”
The win was sealed with a stop and a breakaway layup by 7-foot sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis.
After winning three games in five days — beginning with a thrilling 68-66 win over NC State in the First Four — Texas is moving on to the Sweet Sixteen, where it will meet either No. 2 Purdue or No. 7 Miami on Thursday in San Jose, Calif. In his debut season with the program, coach Sean Miller has UT dancing into the second weekend for the first time since the 2022-23 campaign. “Our ride has never been easy, but we have fought the good fight the whole way and today we did it again,” Miller said.
In a third consecutive strong defensive showing, Texas held a Gonzaga team that came in averaging 84.8 points per contest to just 45 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from 3-point range. No tournament opponent has eclipsed 71 points against the Longhorns – who finished the regular season outside the top 100 in defensive efficiency per KenPom.com – amid their remarkable NCAA Tournament run.
Texas was just as sharp on the other end, with 20 assists against just five turnovers (second-lowest mark of the season). Senior Jordan Pope, a 6-foot-1 guard, hit two big-time 3-pointers in the final six minutes, and Vokietaitis once again was a force in the paint, battling with Ike — the WCC Player of the Year — all night.
Vokietaitis, a transfer from FAU, finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, two days after posting 23 and 16 in the Longhorns’ 79-71 win over No. 6 BYU. “I don’t really care who I’m playing against,” Vokietaitis said. “I’m just trying to play hard, confident. In my eyes, I’m the best big man in the country. So that’s the key to playing like that.”
The Longhorns also got a major lift from their bench, with 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Nic Codie and 6-foot-3 senior guard Chendall Weaver combining for 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few was adamant that Texas, despite its First Four appearance, is “not a Cinderella team” in his postgame news conference. “That’s a really talented basketball team with a really, really, really good coach that has incredible resources and a great history of doing great things in the tournament,” Few said. “So, that’s just a No. 11 seed that had some tough losses during the year. But definitely more than enough talent to win another game after this.”
The Bulldogs did not go down without a fight, and it was a thrilling back-and-forth affair down the stretch. In the end, Miller was just glad that he made the last-second decision to put Heide in the game.
“Look, the shot he made is …, ” Miller said. “It’s that shot you watch on ‘One Shining Moment.’”
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