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Sean Miller Lost It With an Assistant Coach After Texas’s NCAA First Four Game-Winner

Stephen Douglas|
Sean Miller was furious when an assistant coach ran on the floor after the game-winner against NC State.
Sean Miller was furious when an assistant coach ran on the floor after the game-winner against NC State. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

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Texas Longhorns

Texas beat NC State 68-66 in the first round of the 2026 NCAA tournament on Tuesday night. The Longhorns blew an eight-point lead with less than two minutes to go in their First Four game, but a jumper from Tramon Mark with one second remaining earned Texas a trip to the traditional big dance.

Things almost got very interesting when Mark's shot went in, as assistant coach Ryan Anderson ran onto the floor to celebrate prematurely. Luckily for Anderson, NC State called its final timeout after the shot went in, and the assistant did not earn a technical foul for going on the floor while the game was still in progress.

He did not, however, avoid a stern speaking-to from head coach Sean Miller. A second angle of the game-winner shows just how cool the moment was, as well as how angry Miller was with his assistant as the teams went into the final timeout.

Miller got right in his face and almost had to be restrained while he should have been thinking about his defense. That's about as mad as you'll ever see Miller and we see Miller mad plenty.

Who is Ryan Anderson?

Anderson played for Miller at Arizona before starting his coaching career. He then spent multiple years under Miller at Xavier before following him to Texas, so he's probably used to this by now. What he isn't used to is people online questioning whether or not he should've cost his team the game by being called for a technical foul for running onto the court, which is exactly what happened.

If Anderson hoped to be an example for college players and coaches for years to come this is probably not what he was expecting.

Sean Miller... Horns Down?

Following the game, Miller was also spotted doing the Horns Down gesture to a fan. While he was doing it in response to the fan taunting him, it was still a curious decision. This is the one thing that a gentleman from the University of Texas should never stand for. He must have been lost in all the emotion. He also followed the Horns Down with an Xavier X, so it's unclear if at that moment he even remembered which team he was coaching.

Miller spent eight years at Xavier, a dozen years at Arizona and is just coming up on his one-year anniversary at Texas.

When does Texas play BYU?

After beating NC State in Dayton, Ohio, Texas has now clinched the No. 11 seed in the West Region. The reward is a match up with AJ Dybantsa and BYU.

That game will be played in Portland, Ore., on Thursday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:25 p.m. ET and will be shown on TBS.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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