The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Purdue
30-8,13-7Big Ten
Men’s Basketball falls to No. 8/13 Purdue, 79-77, in NCAA Sweet 16
03.26.2026 | Men's Basketball
Tramon Mark posts a season-high 29 points and tops 2,000 career points in Thursday’s loss.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Graduate guard Tramon Mark posted a season-high 29 points, but Texas (21-15) dropped a hard-fought 79-77 decision to No. 8/13 (2 seed) Purdue in a NCAA West Region Sweet 16 contest on Thursday night in SAP Center. The Boilermakers used a Trey Kaufman-Renn tip-in with 0.7 seconds left to earn the victory.
The defeat stopped an outstanding March Madness run by Texas, who became just the sixth team in NCAA Tournament history to advance from the First Four to the Sweet 16. Head coach Sean Miller, in his first season with the Longhorns, advanced to the Sweet 16 for the ninth time in 21 seasons overall as a collegiate head coach.
Mark converted a season-best 11-of-15 field goals, including a collegiate career-high 5-of-7 from three-point range, and tallied three rebounds in 34 minutes despite battling through an ankle injury suffered early in the second half. Mark reached 2,000 career points with a free throw at the 16:20 mark of the second half. Junior Dailyn Swain recorded 15 points (6-13 FG), nine rebounds (four offensive) and game-high five assists in 39 minutes. Senior Jordan Pope, despite playing with a broken right foot suffered at the end of UT's Second Round win over Gonzaga, tallied 12 points (4-9 threes) and did not commit a turnover in 33 minutes.
Purdue scored the game's first six points on back-to-back three-pointers by Fletcher Loyer to take a 6-0 lead with 18:51 left. The Longhorns clawed back to even the score at 12-12 after a Pope three-pointer at the 14:04 mark and followed with an 8-4 spurt to build a 20-16 advantage after a Nic Codie three-pointer with 11:58 remaining.
A Swain put-back tied the score at 30-30 at the 3:53 mark, before the Boilermakers went on a 7-0 run to take a 37-30 cushion after a Loyer jumper with 2:15 left. Texas used a Swain layup and Pope three-pointer to trim the margin to 37-35 at the 1:04 mark, but a Kaufman-Renn layup with 48 seconds remaining gave Purdue a 39-35 edge at the break.
Texas opened the second half on a 14-6 run over the first 4:20 to grab a 49-45 advantage following a Camden Heide three-pointer at the 15:40 mark. The Longhorns took a 56-52 lead after a Mark jumper with 12:27 left, but the Boilermakers scored six-straight points to grab a 58-56 advantage following a Braden Smith layup at the 11:09 mark.
Purdue grabbed a 63-61 cushion after a Loyer three-pointer with 8:55 left, before Texas went on a 9-3 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes to build a 70-66 advantage following a Mark three-pointer at the 5:20 mark. The Boilermakers answered with seven-straight points to take a 73-70 lead after a Smith free throw with 1:33 remaining.
Purdue built a 77-74 advantage following a pair of C.J. Cox free throws with 19 seconds left, before Swain converted a three-point play with 11 seconds left to even the score at 77-77 with 11 seconds remaining. On Purdue's ensuing possession, Smith missed a driving layup but Kaufman-Renn was there for the tip-in with 0.7 seconds left to win the contest for the Boilermakers.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
No. 2 seed Purdue 79, No. 11 seed Texas 77
March 26, 2026
SAP Center (San Jose, Calif.)
Attendance: 15,341
Team Notes
- With the loss, Texas concludes the 2025-26 season and the first year of the Sean Miller era with a 21-15 overall record and a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16.
- Miller is now 25-14 in 14 NCAA Tournament appearances. His 25 victories rank ninth for most career NCAA Tournament wins by active Division I coaches.
- The Longhorns fell to 43-43 all-time in 40 NCAA Tournament appearances.
- The contest featured 16 lead changes and 10 ties. The largest lead for either team was seven points (Purdue led 37-30 with 2:15 left in the first half).
- Texas converted 51.8-percent (29-56) from the floor, including a 44.0-percent (11-25) mark from three-point range, on the night.
- This marked the ninth time this season that the Longhorns reached double digits in three-point field goals made.
- Texas committed just seven turnovers during the game.
- The Longhorns lost the rebound battle by a slim 32-31 margin. Texas outrebounded 28 of its 36 opponents this season.
- UT posted 12 offensive rebounds in the loss. The Longhorns reached double digits in offensive rebounds in 25 of its 36 games this year.
- Texas limited Purdue to 20.0-percent (4-20) from three-point range on the night.
- In the second half, the Longhorns converted 55.6-percent (15-27), including a 55.6-percent (5-9) mark from three-point range.
- Tied his career high in minutes (27), also played 27 minutes at Arkansas this year (March 4)
- Reached the 2,000-career point mark with his free throw at the 16:20 mark of the second half
- Completed his collegiate career with 2,010 points in 172 games
- Set his career high in three-pointers made (5-7)
- Set a season high in points (29), previous: 23, twice
- Set his season high in field goals made (11-15), previous: 10 vs. Georgia (Jan. 24)
- Topped the 20-point mark for the seventh time this season (36 games) and 25th time in his career (172 games)
- Reached double figures in scoring for the 24th time this season and 98th time in his career
- Reached double figures in scoring (12 points) for the 28th time this season (36 games) and 99th time in his career (135 games)
- Reached double figures in scoring (15 points) for the 33rd time this season (36 games) and 58th time in his career (99 games)
- Recorded nine rebounds and fell just one board shy of notching his ninth double-double of the season
- Added a game-high five assists in 39 minutes
