The No. 11-seed Texas Longhorns are on a streak of pulling off upsets. First, the Horns downed the NC State Wolfpack, and then they pulled off the even more improbable win over the BYU Cougars.
In Texas's first-round win over BYU, center Matas Vokietaitis put on an absolute show of a performance, racking up 23 points, 16 rebounds, one assist, and one block.
However, despite his awe-inspiring stat line to push the Horns to victory, Vokietaitis had a major red flag pop up. One that Texas head coach Sean Miller and the Longhorns will have to address before they try to pull off their best upset yet: a win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
Vokietaitis went 3-for-11 from the free-throw line, missing out on eight points that were virtually given to him. If Texas misses out on those give-me opportunities against a team like Gonzaga, it will send the Longhorns packing before they can even blink.
Matas Vokietaitis has to be near perfect vs. Gonzaga
Vokietaitis was undeniably the star of the show as Texas defeated BYU and the Cougars' star freshman AJ Dybantsa. However, beyond Dybantsa, the Cougs didn't pose much of a threat to the Horns, so Vokietaitis's eight missed free throws were almost acceptable.
However, even immediately after the game, both Vokietaitis and Miller knew it was a trend that could not continue if the Longhorns wanted to keep dancing.
"I don't know what to say, I just need to work more on that and improve, that's on me... I'm usually making free throws; I never miss that much," Vokietaitis said. "Maybe today was a bad day, and I didn't do good. I just need to work more on that, that's it."
Miller added that when a player misses that many free throws, it can send the team into a rut of sorts, but big-time plays like the ones Vokietaitis and Tramon Mark had throughout the game can pull them back out before they're in too deep.
Vokietaitis, or anyone else on Texas's roster, cannot miss eight free throws against the Bulldogs; it's that simple, and while nobody can play a perfect game, the Longhorns have to play pretty near flawlessly against Gonzaga.
On Saturday, March 21, (11) Texas and (3) Gonzaga are scheduled to tip off at 6:10 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on TBS and truTV.