11:50 p.m. Friday
Texas advanced and Houston was eliminated from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Friday night.
The Longhorns dominated Xavier (Ohio), 87-73, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Tyrese Hunter scored 18 points to lead Texas.
“I thought we played one of our better defensive games tonight that we’ve played all year,” interim head coach Rodney Terry said.
The Longhorns (29-8) advanced to play Miami (28-7) on Sunday.
If Texas wins, it will make the Final Four for the first time since 2003.
No.1-seeded Houston lost to Miami, 89-75, in the other Midwest Regional semifinal game.
The Cougars shot only 37% from the field, including 29% from three-point range.
Jarace Walker scored 16 for Houston (33-4). Jamal Shead had 15, and Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark scored 14 each.
“Unfortunately, one off-night and you go home in this tournament,” Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said.
NOTES
— In Friday’s other two Sweet 16 games, Alabama was ousted by San Diego State, 71-64, and Creighton ousted, Princeton, 86-75.
— With Alabama’s loss, there are no top-seeded teams left in the tournament. Houston lost Friday, and fellow No. 1 seeds Purdue and Kansas fell earlier in the championship.
4 p.m. Friday
Texas and Houston are the only remaining schools from the state still alive in the men’s NCAA Tournament.
They will play Friday night as the second half of the Sweet 16 gets underway.
Both teams are in the Midwest region, which plays its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Kansas City, Missouri.
Texas (28-8) finished in second place during the Big 12 regular season and won the conference tournament.
The Longhorns are the No.2-seed in the Midwest and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008 after holding off Penn State on Saturday. They will play the No.3-seed Xavier (27-9), who averages 81.2 points per game and finished in second place in the Big East.
The last time the Longhorns played the Musketeers was in the second round of the 2019 NIT, which Texas won, 78-76, in overtime.
Houston (33-3) has been among the top teams in the country all season. The Cougars won the American Athletic Conference regular season title but fell to Memphis in the AAC tournament. They earned a No.1 seed in the Midwest and will play the No.5 seed and ACC champion Miami (27-7) after overcoming struggles through the first two rounds.
Houston has won its past five games against the Hurricanes, but the teams have not met since 1971 and never at a neutral site.
Houston will tip off at 6:15 p.m., and Texas plays the last game of the night at 8:45 p.m.
If both win, they will play each other on Sunday for a chance to advance to the Final Four in Houston. Houston reached the Final Four in 2021; Texas has not been since 2003.
The other two Sweet 16 games on Friday are No.6 Creighton vs. No.15 Princeton and No.5 San Diego State vs. No.1 Alabama, played in Louisville as part of the South region.
No.3 Kansas State (26-9), No.3 Gonzaga (31-5), No.9 Florida Atlantic (34-3), and No.4 UConn (28-8) clinched spots in the Elite Eight on Thursday.