OTF Premium Jordan Pope on the mend ahead of Texas' Sweet 16 bout with Purdue

[Jeff Howe]

Sean Miller’s Texas squad spent Sunday away from the court after advancing to the Sweet 16 with Saturday’s NCAA Tournament second-round win over Gonzaga.

The downtime allowed Jordan Pope to get treatment for an ankle injury he sustained late in the 74-68 win over the Bulldogs, which allowed the Longhorns to reach the second weekend of March Madness for the first time since 2023 and the second time since 2008.

“With Jordan, I think we’ll be fine,” Miller said Monday during a Zoom call with reporters. “We didn’t do anything yesterday, so we weren’t together, but he’s gotten treatment and moving forward.”

A source told On Texas Football on Sunday how close it could get Pope “to 90-95 percent will come down to Sunday through Wednesday."

Texas (21-14) doesn’t travel until Tuesday for its West Regional semifinal at San Jose’s SAP Center against No. 2 seed Purdue on Thursday (6:10 p.m. CT, CBS). The Longhorns will be on the court for practice Monday afternoon, giving Pope more time to rest before putting his ankle to the test against a veteran backcourt led by Braden Smith, who broke Bobby Hurley’s NCAA record for career assists (1,091 after Sunday’s 79-69 second-round win over Miami) in Purdue’s (29-8) first-round rout of Queens.

“You go and break that record, I think that says everything about his ability to pass, play-make, make his teammates better,” Miller said of Smith. “He’s one of the best in the game and a big, big part of why Purdue is so great offensively.”

The fifth all-time NCAA Tournament meeting between Texas and the Boilermakers will feature two of the most experienced backcourts in the country. Smith and Fletcher Loyer have played a combined 294 collegiate games (147 each), which actually falls short of the 305 combined games played by Pope (134) and Tramon Mark (171).

Pope is averaging 11 points, 2.3 assists and 1.3 rebounds per game in the Longhorns’ three NCAA Tournament victories. Although his 7-for-22 mark from beyond the arc is behind the pace at which he’s converted 3-point shots throughout the season (36.9 percent through 35 games), Pope’s clutch 3-pointer with 1:29 left in a 79-71 first-round win over BYU is one of several big-time plays Texas has gotten from the Oakland, Calif., native during the team’s unlikely run to the Sweet 16.

“I don't know if there's too many guards that are playing in the Tournament that are playing at a higher level than Jordan Pope,” Miller said after Pope scored 17 points on 7-for-18 shooting (3-for-8 from 3-point range) with three assists and no turnovers in the win over Gonzaga. “He means a lot to our team. What he's really mastered is that he controls the game and he's our point guard, but he adds such a strong scoring punch that he can change the game from the 3-point line.”

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[CJ Vogel]

Great to hear Texas should have Pope come Thursday.

All hands on deck.

[Alex Butler]

3 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

Great to hear Texas should have Pope come Thursday.

All hands on deck.

Need Voke to rest up and get his legs back, can’t have him get in foul trouble because he’s got heavy legs. 

[Califashorn75]

As much as Pope frustrates me, he does seem to rise to the occasion when it matters most. We need him. 

[Califashorn75]

The SAP Center in San Jose is a huge arena. I hope the Bay Area crowd goes to the games. I saw Sir Paul McCartney there a few years back. It's normally where the Sharks Hockey team plays. 

[MJW2327]

He's got such a pure looking shot with such a clean release - any time he throws up a deep one I've learned to stop doubting that it was a bad shot because a lot of those go in

[Gerry Hamilton]

Will be interesting on Pope. 

I don't see how he can be close to 100%. 

The NCAA Tournament has been impacted more by injury late in the season and tournament more than any other year I can remember. 

 

[texcoyote15]

2 minutes ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

Will be interesting on Pope. 

I don't see how he can be close to 100%. 

The NCAA Tournament has been impacted more by injury late in the season and tournament more than any other year I can remember. 

 

Man we need him on the floor.  He seems to come up big in big moments.  But I do understand that trying to play high level defense you just can’t hardly do it being less than 100%. 

[LonghornFan4Ever]

Simeon Wilcher, this is your time to shine!

[PaulieD]

33 minutes ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

Will be interesting on Pope. 

I don't see how he can be close to 100%. 

The NCAA Tournament has been impacted more by injury late in the season and tournament more than any other year I can remember. 

 

hard to tell with ankles, Gerry.  If it's a sprain, is it upper, lower, slight or worse, etc.  Also treatments now are sooo much better than when I wore a younger man's clothes.  If the trainer gives him a good wrap he could be ok.

[PaulieD]

31 minutes ago, LonghornFan4Ever said:

Simeon Wilcher, this is your time to shine!

Amen.

Sometimes this kind of adversity is an open door for a bench player to rise to the occasion.🤘

[Gerry Hamilton]

22 minutes ago, PaulieD said:

hard to tell with ankles, Gerry.  If it's a sprain, is it upper, lower, slight or worse, etc.  Also treatments now are sooo much better than when I wore a younger man's clothes.  If the trainer gives him a good wrap he could be ok.

We shall see. Fingers crossed.