No. 2 seed Purdue Boilermakers beat No. 11 seed Texas Longhorns 79-77 in the Sweet 16 round of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on March 26, 2026, at SAP Center in San Jose, California.[1]
Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 20 points for Purdue, including a tip-in off a missed layup by Braden Smith with 0.7 seconds remaining that sealed the victory after Texas had tied the score at 77 on Dailyn Swain's and-one layup and free throw with 11 seconds left.
Fletcher Loyer added 18 points and Smith had 16 for Purdue, with all five starters scoring at least 10 points. Texas guard Tramon Mark led all scorers with 29 points on 11-of-15 field goals, including 5-of-7 from three-point range. Swain recorded nine rebounds and five assists.
Texas shot 52 percent from the field (29-of-56), while Purdue made 48 percent (30-of-62). Neither team led by more than seven points in the closely contested game.
The win sends Purdue to the Elite Eight in the West Regional at the same venue, where they will face the winner of the Arkansas-Arizona matchup. The Final Four will be held April 4 and 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.[1]
Purdue, from the Big Ten Conference, reached the Sweet 16 after earlier tournament wins. Texas, representing the Big 12 Conference, advanced through the First Four play-in games.
Sources
- NCAA, "NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee announces 2026 championship sites", April 12, 2024, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2024-04-12/ncaa-division-i-mens-basketball-committee-announces-2026-championship-sites
