Texas beats Hokies 81-73 for 1st NCAA tourney win since 2014
MILWAUKEE (AP) Texas' Marcus Carr says he doesn't leave the gym on most practice days until he makes at least one halfcourt shot.
''Sometimes it takes me one rep,'' Carr said. ''Sometimes it takes me 11. However many it takes.''
Practice made perfect for Carr on Friday.
Carr beat the halftime buzzer by banking in a shot from roughly 60 feet away to put Texas ahead for good in an 81-73 victory over Virginia Tech that gave the Longhorns their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2014.
The sixth-seeded Longhorns (22-11) advance to a second-round East Region game Sunday against No. 3 seed Purdue (28-7). The Boilermakers trounced Yale 78-56 on Friday.
''Just so happy for our guys that never won a game in a tournament, never been in the tournament,'' Texas coach Chris Beard said. ''This whole deal's about our players. I think after the season it will be a chance to reflect, but we're in this tournament to win six games.''
After Virginia Tech's Storm Murphy made two free throws with 2.1 seconds left in the first half to give the Hokies a 32-31 lead, Carr got about one-third of the way up the court before firing away.
Carr had taken just a couple of steps beyond the 3-point arc on the opposite end of the floor and hadn't even reached the ''S'' on the ''March Madness'' logo when he launched his shot.
''Anybody who knows me knows I shoot that shot a lot,'' said Carr, who had 15 points, nine assists and only one turnover. ''It wasn't really a surprise when it went in.''
Carr's coach vouched for him.
''He was able to get two dribbles and get a pretty high-percentage shot,'' Beard said. ''It's not a 50% shot, but for Marcus that might be a 20% shot. He can make one out of five from that area.''
Texas built on the momentum and led by 17 with 5 1/2 minutes left. Virginia Tech's Hunter Cattoor sank a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to cut Texas' lead to 76-69, but the Hokies couldn't get any closer.
Andrew Jones scored 21 points to lead five Texas players in double figures as the Longhorns shot 10 of 19 from 3-point range. Timmy Allen had 14, Christian Bishop 11 and Courtney Ramey 10 to go along with Carr's 15.
The Longhorns ended a five-game NCAA Tournament losing streak. They were seeking to improve those postseason fortunes last year when they hired Beard, a former Texas student manager who led Texas Tech to the national championship game in 2019.
Beard improved to 5-0 in NCAA Tournament first-round games.
''We basically set it up for our guys as we've got to go beat one of the best teams in the country in the first round,'' Beard said. ''So this will be a confidence builder as the tournament goes on because I do think we just beat one of the best teams in the tournament. We'll have to go through several teams like this.''
Virginia Tech's Sean Padulla scored 19 points, with 13 coming in the last 4 1/2 minutes. Keve Aluma had 15 and Cattoor added 12 as Virginia Tech lost for just the third time in 16 games.
The 11th-seeded Hokies (23-13) had played their way into the NCAA field by winning their first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title last week.
''At the end of the day when you look at the big picture, when you look back, we're the first team at Virginia Tech to ever be ACC champs, so no one will ever be able to take that away from us,'' Cattoor said. ''The relationships we build with each other and the coaching staff, it's more about life, it's not all about basketball. The relationships we take away from this, growing as humans, I'll be forever grateful for it.''
KEY STAT
Heading into this game, Virginia Tech was ranked third in 3-point percentage (.393), while Texas was ranked 250th (.323). Yet the Longhorns outscored the Hokies 30-12 from beyond the arc as Virginia Tech went 4 of 12 on 3-point attempts.
BIG PICTURE
Texas: Beard overhauled his roster by bringing in plenty of transfers, and those newcomers made an impact Friday. Carr played at Minnesota last season. Allen played at Utah. Creighton transfer Bishop scored 11 points. But it was a holdover from former coach Shaka Smart's tenure who led the team in scoring. Jones shot 5 of 7 from 3-point range and had 17 points by halftime.
Virginia Tech: This marks the second straight first-round NCAA Tournament loss for the Hokies, who fell to Florida in overtime last season. ... In the second half, the Hokies had nine turnovers and allowed Texas to shoot 64% from the floor.
UP NEXT
Texas will be trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since a 2008 regional final appearance when it faces Purdue on Sunday.
---
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:00 | Â | Keve Aluma vs. Christian Bishop (Storm Murphy gains possession) | Â | |
19:34 | Â | Justyn Mutts misses three point jump shot | Â | |
19:32 | Â | Longhorns defensive rebound | Â | |
19:03 | Â | Marcus Carr misses three point jump shot | Â | |
19:01 | Â | Storm Murphy defensive rebound | Â | |
18:44 | Â | Justyn Mutts misses two point layup | Â | |
18:42 | Â | Timmy Allen defensive rebound | Â | |
18:37 | Â | Keve Aluma blocks Timmy Allen's two point layup | Â | |
18:35 | Â | Keve Aluma defensive rebound | Â | |
18:18 | Â | Hunter Cattoor misses two point layup | Â | |
18:16 | Â | Andrew Jones defensive rebound | Â | |
18:09 | Â | Marcus Carr misses three point jump shot | Â | |
18:07 | Â | Hunter Cattoor defensive rebound | Â | |
17:43 | Â | Christian Bishop blocks Keve Aluma's two point layup | Â | |
17:41 | Â | Andrew Jones defensive rebound | Â | |
17:35 | Â | Andrew Jones misses three point jump shot | Â | |
17:33 | Â | Storm Murphy defensive rebound | Â | |
17:17 | +2 | Keve Aluma makes two point jump shot (Justyn Mutts assists) | 2-0 | |
16:55 | Â | Courtney Ramey misses two point jump shot | Â | |
16:53 | Â | Keve Aluma defensive rebound | Â | |
16:42 | Â | Keve Aluma turnover (bad pass) (Marcus Carr steals) | Â | |
16:34 | Â | Courtney Ramey misses two point layup | Â | |
16:32 | Â | Nahiem Alleyne defensive rebound | Â | |
16:18 | +2 | Keve Aluma makes two point dunk (Justyn Mutts assists) | 4-0 | |
15:58 | Â | Timmy Allen misses two point jump shot | Â | |
15:56 | Â | Keve Aluma defensive rebound | Â | |
15:49 | Â | Marcus Carr personal foul (Storm Murphy draws the foul) | Â | |
15:49 | Â | TV timeout | Â | |
15:34 | +2 | Keve Aluma makes two point dunk (Justyn Mutts assists) | 6-0 | |
15:08 | Â | Timmy Allen misses two point hook shot | Â | |
15:06 | Â | Timmy Allen offensive rebound | Â | |
15:00 | +2 | Timmy Allen makes two point layup | 6-2 | |
14:45 | Â | Darius Maddox misses three point jump shot | Â | |
14:43 | Â | Courtney Ramey defensive rebound | Â | |
14:41 | Â | Timmy Allen misses two point layup | Â | |
14:39 | Â | Timmy Allen offensive rebound | Â | |
14:39 | Â | Hunter Cattoor shooting foul (Timmy Allen draws the foul) | Â | |
14:39 | +1 | Timmy Allen makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 6-3 | |
14:39 | +1 | Timmy Allen makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 6-4 | |
14:22 | Â | Timmy Allen shooting foul (Hunter Cattoor draws the foul) | Â | |
14:22 | +1 | Hunter Cattoor makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 7-4 | |
14:22 | +1 | Hunter Cattoor makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 8-4 | |
13:59 | Â | Jase Febres misses two point jump shot | Â | |
13:57 | Â | Brock Cunningham offensive rebound | Â | |
13:52 | Â | Marcus Carr misses two point jump shot | Â | |
13:50 | Â | Brock Cunningham offensive rebound | Â | |
13:42 | +3 | Jase Febres makes three point jump shot (Brock Cunningham assists) | 8-7 | |
13:16 | +2 | David N'Guessan makes two point jump shot | 10-7 | |
13:16 | Â | Christian Bishop shooting foul (David N'Guessan draws the foul) | Â | |
13:16 | +1 | David N'Guessan makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 11-7 | |
12:47 | Â | Dylan Disu misses two point jump shot | Â | |
12:45 | Â | Hokies defensive rebound | Â | |
12:46 | Â | David N'Guessan personal foul | Â | |
12:46 | Â | Andrew Jones misses two point jump shot | Â | |
12:44 | Â | Dylan Disu offensive rebound | Â | |
12:24 | +3 | Andrew Jones makes three point jump shot (Timmy Allen assists) | 11-10 | |
12:01 | +3 | Sean Pedulla makes three point jump shot (Keve Aluma assists) | 14-10 | |
11:47 | +3 | Andrew Jones makes three point jump shot (Timmy Allen assists) | 14-13 | |
11:18 | Â | Andrew Jones personal foul (Nahiem Alleyne draws the foul) | Â | |
11:18 | Â | TV timeout | Â | |
11:12 | Â | Nahiem Alleyne misses two point jump shot | Â | |
11:10 | Â | Timmy Allen defensive rebound | Â | |
10:59 | +2 | Christian Bishop makes two point layup (Marcus Carr assists) | 14-15 | |
10:45 | Â | Sean Pedulla misses two point layup | Â | |
10:43 | Â | Timmy Allen defensive rebound | Â | |
10:32 | Â | Courtney Ramey misses three point jump shot | Â | |
10:30 | Â | Darius Maddox defensive rebound | Â | |
10:27 | Â | Christian Bishop personal foul (Darius Maddox draws the foul) | Â | |
9:59 | Â | Hunter Cattoor turnover (Andrew Jones steals) | Â | |
9:47 | +3 | Andrew Jones makes three point jump shot (Timmy Allen assists) | 14-18 | |
9:17 | +2 | Justyn Mutts makes two point layup | 16-18 | |
8:57 | Â | Timmy Allen misses two point jump shot | Â | |
8:55 | Â | Keve Aluma defensive rebound | Â | |
8:41 | +2 | Keve Aluma makes two point jump shot (Storm Murphy assists) | 18-18 | |
8:08 | Â | Courtney Ramey misses three point jump shot | Â | |
8:06 | Â | Longhorns offensive rebound | Â | |
8:07 | Â | Longhorns turnover (shot clock violation) | Â | |
7:48 | Â | Justyn Mutts turnover (lost ball) (Brock Cunningham steals) | Â | |
7:48 | Â | TV timeout | Â | |
7:30 | Â | Dylan Disu misses two point jump shot | Â | |
7:28 | Â | Storm Murphy defensive rebound | Â | |
7:10 | Â | Keve Aluma offensive foul (Brock Cunningham draws the foul) | Â | |
7:10 | Â | Keve Aluma turnover | Â | |
6:53 | Â | Hunter Cattoor personal foul (Marcus Carr draws the foul) | Â | |
6:34 | Â | Keve Aluma shooting foul (Dylan Disu draws the foul) | Â | |
6:34 | +1 | Dylan Disu makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 18-19 | |
6:34 | +1 | Dylan Disu makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 18-20 | |
6:17 | Â | Brock Cunningham personal foul (Justyn Mutts draws the foul) | Â | |
6:04 | +2 | Justyn Mutts makes two point layup | 20-20 | |
5:50 | Â | Nahiem Alleyne personal foul (Dylan Disu draws the foul) | Â | |
5:45 | +2 | Marcus Carr makes two point jump shot (Dylan Disu assists) | 20-22 | |
5:14 | +3 | Sean Pedulla makes three point jump shot (Justyn Mutts assists) | 23-22 | |
4:44 | Â | Jase Febres misses three point jump shot | Â | |
4:42 | Â | Justyn Mutts defensive rebound | Â | |
4:27 | Â | Sean Pedulla misses three point jump shot | Â | |
4:25 | Â | Longhorns defensive rebound | Â | |
3:55 | Â | Courtney Ramey misses two point jump shot | Â | |
3:53 | Â | Sean Pedulla defensive rebound | Â | |
3:46 | Â | Brock Cunningham shooting foul (Nahiem Alleyne draws the foul) | Â | |
3:46 | Â | TV timeout | Â | |
3:46 | +1 | Nahiem Alleyne makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 24-22 | |
3:46 | +1 | Nahiem Alleyne makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 25-22 | |
3:38 | +3 | Andrew Jones makes three point jump shot (Marcus Carr assists) | 25-25 | |
3:11 | Â | Darius Maddox misses two point jump shot | Â | |
3:09 | Â | Darius Maddox offensive rebound | Â | |
3:06 | +2 | Darius Maddox makes two point layup | 27-25 | |
2:55 | +2 | Andrew Jones makes two point layup | 27-27 | |
2:36 | Â | Storm Murphy misses two point jump shot | Â | |
2:34 | Â | Andrew Jones defensive rebound | Â | |
2:07 | Â | David N'Guessan blocks Timmy Allen's two point layup | Â | |
2:05 | Â | Longhorns offensive rebound | Â | |
2:04 | Â | Longhorns turnover (shot clock violation) | Â | |
1:44 | Â | Dylan Disu blocks David N'Guessan's two point hook shot | Â | |
1:42 | Â | Devin Askew defensive rebound | Â | |
1:31 | Â | Andrew Jones misses two point layup | Â | |
1:29 | Â | Darius Maddox defensive rebound | Â | |
1:12 | +2 | Nahiem Alleyne makes two point jump shot | 29-27 | |
0:56 | Â | David N'Guessan personal foul (Timmy Allen draws the foul) | Â | |
0:56 | Â | Hokies 30 second timeout | Â | |
0:56 | +1 | Timmy Allen makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 29-28 | |
0:56 | Â | Timmy Allen misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | Â | |
0:56 | Â | Justyn Mutts defensive rebound | Â | |
0:36 | Â | Storm Murphy misses two point layup | Â | |
0:34 | Â | Justyn Mutts offensive rebound | Â | |
0:34 | Â | Jase Febres shooting foul (Justyn Mutts draws the foul) | Â | |
0:34 | Â | Justyn Mutts misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | Â | |
0:34 | +1 | Justyn Mutts makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 30-28 | |
0:32 | Â | Longhorns 30 second timeout | Â | |
0:07 | +3 | Andrew Jones makes three point jump shot (Marcus Carr assists) | 30-31 | |
0:02 | Â | Timmy Allen personal foul (Storm Murphy draws the foul) | Â | |
0:02 | +1 | Storm Murphy makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 31-31 | |
0:02 | +1 | Storm Murphy makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 32-31 | |
0:02 | +3 | Marcus Carr makes three point jump shot (Andrew Jones assists) | 32-34 | |
0:00 | Â | End of period | Â |