No. 1 seed Texas trashes No. 8 seed Oregon, 100-58
Madison Booker scored a career-high 40 points as the Longhorns dominated the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns closed out an undefeated season at the Moody Center by dominating the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Austin, capped by a 100-58 win over the No. 8 seed Oregon Ducks on Sunday that featured a final tribute to senior point guard Rori Harmon and a career-high 40 points from junior wing Madison Booker.
Vic Schaefer’s team won the first two games by a combined 84 points, keyed on Sunday by Booker’s monster effort with 14-of-21 shooting (66. 7 percent) and two three-pointers, 10-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line, eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Harmon was a defensive menace for the Horns early, ultimately recording five steals and serving as an effective distributor with six assists, while sophomore guard Jordan Lee added 17 points and hit three threes in an 8-of-12 shooting effort from beyond the arc for Texas.
The defensive effort by the Longhorns consistently led to effective offense with 15 turnovers converted into 23 points as the Texas bench provided a major edge with a 28-14 scoring advantage. The game wasn’t a blowout early as the Horns took a 10-point lead into halftime before blowing the game open with a 28-8 third quarter as Booker scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and the Ducks went 2-of-12 from the field with seven turnovers. At that point, the route as on as Texas notched an 11-point edge in the fourth quarter with Booker and Lee both scoring eight points.
Texas will remain in the Lone Star State for the Sweet 16 on Saturday in Forth against the winner of No. 4 seed West Virginia and No. 5 seed Kentucky, who match up on Monday in Morgantown at 4:00 p.