It was familiar territory for the Longhorns, walking into the same Dayton, Ohio arena where, a year ago, they had let a chance to dance through March slip from their grasp with costly mistakes in the final minutes of the First Four game.
With now-Texas head coach Sean Miller sitting on the opposite end of the court on Xavier’s bench, the Longhorns gave up several deciding moments that would have carried them to the Round of 64 for a consecutive season, ending the season with an 86-80 loss and the bitter taste of a second-half choke in their mouths.
This time, a little less than 365 days later, Texas didn’t let the moment slip out of its grasp. The second half didn’t bring a lapse in energy this time. With a classic, last-minute jumper from graduate guard Tramon Mark to put the Longhorns up 68-66 with 1.1 seconds left before the buzzer, as well as what may have been Texas’ best defensive performance all year, the Longhorns made it through the First Four test against NC State and will advance to the Round of 64.
Forget the Dismal End to the Regular Season — What Happens In March Matters More
There’s no denying the importance of a regular season. Texas’ 6-1 run from late January to mid February gave the team enough credibility to enter March with a seed. The 1-5 end to the regular season diminished the Longhorns’ credibility enough to cause them to barely slide into tournament eligibility.
Five of six final games, including a depressing loss to Ole Miss in the SEC tournament, easily dampens a team’s confidence. On Selection Sunday, there wasn’t much certainty that Texas would even make the NCAA tournament, let alone make a run through it.
Even so, Texas won against NC State in the same way they made it into postseason play — by barely scraping by, and justifying itself with the fact that, in March, a win is a win. No matter how messy, a chance to continue playing is still on the table.
“Knowing that this could be my last game, I was just trying to leave it all out on the court,” senior guard Chendall Weaver said. “Whatever my team needed, I tried to bring it.”
For Texas, keeping emotions in check seems to be the key to navigating the high-pressure moments that come in March games — especially those early games between two desperate teams.
“In games like that, your emotions can waver up and down,” Miller said. “Our team, we kept our emotions in check. We did what we needed to do.”
With it being the last year for several players in burnt orange, and with the regular season ending the way that it did, those emotions were swirling on the court as Texas grappled for the lead with NC State for 60 minutes. Even so, Miller kept his team in check and now has the confidence of an early win behind him.
“We all kept our composure during timeouts. They hit some really tough shots and Coach Miller calmed us down. ‘Hey, we’re going to win this game’, and he drew up the right things and made the right adjustments on defense,” junior guard Dailyn Swain said.
Next on the Longhorns’ to-do list is a game against No. 6-seed BYU in Portland, Oregon. The Thursday night game will be the true test of whether the Longhorns are capable of making a run through the tournament. An upset against the Bobcats could turn the Longhorns into a Cinderella squad, as analysts predicted during their early 6-1 conference run.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.