Seventh-seeded Nevada rallies, tops Texas 87-83 in overtime
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Caleb Martin scored 18 points and made two huge 3-pointers in overtime Friday as Nevada rallied to beat Texas 87-83 for its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2007.
Nevada (28-7) erased a 14-point, second-half deficit and tied it at 68 when Jordan Caroline hit one of two free throws with 3.8 seconds left in regulation. The Wolf Pack came back again after trailing by four early in an overtime session that featured 34 combined points.
The Wolf Pack, seeded seventh in the South Region, advanced to a Sunday matchup with No. 2 seed Cincinnati (31-4). The Bearcats beat Georgia State 68-53.
Martin’s 3-pointer with 2:26 left in overtime gave Nevada its first lead since opening the game on a 5-0 run. Texas’ Matt Coleman took a jumper that went around and out, and Martin hit another 3 that extended Nevada’s lead to 81-77 with 1:36 left.
After Coleman cut Nevada’s margin to 81-79, Martin passed to twin brother Cody for a layup that made it 83-79 with 53 seconds remaining. Tenth-seeded Texas later got within two on a 3-pointer by Kerwin Roach II with 15.5 seconds left, but that’s as close as the Longhorns got.
Caleb Martin also had 10 rebounds and five assists. Cody Martin had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Nevada’s Kendall Stephens had a team-high 22 points.
Roach had a career-high 26 points for Texas (19-15) and shot 6 of 10 from 3-point range. Coleman had a career-best 25 points.
After trailing 40-26 early in the second half, Nevada tied it on Caroline’s foul shot. That came after the fifth foul on Texas’ Mohamed Bamba, who finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Texas’ Dylan Osetkowski then threw an inbounds pass half the length of the court to Jericho Sims, who knocked the ball out of bounds. That turnover gave Nevada the ball about 20 feet from Texas’ basket with 1.6 seconds left.
Caleb Martin missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. But he was right on the mark with the game on the line in overtime.