Texas Longhorns Have Avoided the “Plague” — And in Doing So, Advance to Round of 32

Cleaning up in one area of play has given the Longhorns' overall performance a major improvement.

Mar 19, 2026; Portland, OR, USA; Texas Longhorns center Matas Vokietaitis (8) drives against BYU Cougars center Keba Keita (13) in the second half during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

There are two errors that plagued the Texas Longhorns throughout the majority of the regular season:

Underwhelming defensive performances and overwhelming mistakes that caused whistles to blow, and not in Texas’ favor.

Head coach Sean Miller hasn’t held back when discussing the fouls that have plagued the Longhorns throughout this season, costing points that resulted in close losses. However, when March hit, the Longhorns suddenly found a way to play clean.

Both Games Against NC State and BYU Had Fewer Trips to the Foul Line

Mar 17, 2026; Dayton, OH, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller coaches in the first half against the NC State Wolfpack during a first four game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at University of Dayton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

In two games dancing through the NCAA tournament, Texas has managed to put on some of its best defensive performances in the season while playing clean. Navigating these two objectives has been difficult for the Longhorns, and undermined their incredibly explosive offense that put them so close to victory several times throughout conference play.

Miller called the fouling habit a “virus” that had spread through the team and plagued its style of play, unleashing his opinions after a volatile loss to Kentucky that came after a stunning amount of 23 fouls committed against the Wildcats. 

Just under two months later, however, he praised his team’s management of defending highly productive players without making a trip to the free-throw line — especially in the attempt to box in AJ Dybantsa, BYU’s first ever No. 1 recruit and a highly-regarded contestant for best current player in the NCAA.

“What we couldn’t afford is that (Dybantsa) puts Dailyn (Swain) in great foul trouble, or he fouls our entire team out,” Miller said. “Because, among the many things he does, he puts so many fouls on the opponent that he wears out the other team. And we were able to play him, and again I see he had 12 free throws, but these guys were able to play all the way to the end.”

Against BYU, Texas committed 19 fouls, with not one player garnering more than three individual calls throughout the course of the game. In the First Four game against NC State, Texas committed just 10 fouls, compared to the Wolfpack’s 17.

It’s a critical skill for any college basketball team to learn in order to actually win games — hold on to the lead through strong defensive action, and don’t give the other team an opportunity to score free points. It’s frustrating that the Longhorns finally picked up that piece after barely squeezing by into postgame play, but if there’s any time to finally learn, it’s during the attempt to make a run through March Madness.

In the Round of 32 against Gonzaga, Texas absolutely must continue on this trend. The Bulldogs have developed one of the best offenses in the nation, with a consistent ranking within the top 20 teams for most productivity as they score an average of 85.1 points per game. Texas will need to find a way to shut down this high-powered offense, led by power forward Graham Ike, without giving Gonzaga free trips to the line. 

That starts at 6:10 p.m. on Saturday, 

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