Why Duke Loss Will Be Remembered As 'Starting Line, Not the Finish Line' for Texas

The Texas Longhorns' season-opening matchup versus the Duke Blue Devils was scheduled before Sean Miller was named the program's newest head coach. But on Tuesday, he was tasked with leading the Longhorns against one of college basketball's perennial powerhouses in his Texas coaching debut.

"We know it's going to be a difficult challenge," Miller said last week. "But, at Texas, to go where we want to go and be the program we want to become, part of that path is you have to be able to play against the best. And Duke certainly represents that."

To him, no matter the result, it was clear how this game would fit into his team's progression and development as his era in Austin gets underway.

"I have to remind myself that this is the starting line, not the finish line," Miller said on Oct. 30. "There'll be no doubt that (when) we get on the plane after the game, regardless of how it went, we'll be better because we'll have learned true lessons on where we stand."

Texas Shows Resiliency in Sean Miller's Debut

The Longhorns fell 75-60 to the Blue Devils in the inaugural Dick Vitale Invitational in Charlotte, but the scoreline does not tell the full story. Duke beat Texas with scoring spurts that the Longhorns could ultimately not keep up with. Yet, the Longhorns showed resilience that will be key throughout the season.

Texas led Duke 33-32 at halftime, after holding the Blue Devils scoreless in the final 2:51 of the opening 20 minutes. Early on in the first half, both teams struggled to stand out offensively. At the under-16 television timeout, only eight points were on the board, as Texas led 5-3. At the under-12, it was 12-11 Texas.

Then the Blue Devils went on their first scoring streak, adding 12 points in just over two-and-a-half minutes to take a 23-14 lead and force Miller to take a timeout. Texas fought its way back late in the half, but the threat of a Duke run remained imminent.

And to start the second half, it arrived. Duke began with an 8-0 run that gave them a 40-33 lead at the first television time at 16:20. The Longhorns stuck around for much of the half. In fact, they reduced their deficit to just three with a forward Dailyn Swain jumper at the 9:33 mark. Yes, with less than 10 minutes remaining, the game was within one score.

But then Duke found its rhythm again. Two minutes later, the Blue Devils had a double-digit lead by again scoring eight points unanswered. They held that lead and extended it late to prevent the Longhorns from rallying back.

Swain, center Matas Vokietaitis and guard Jordan Pope were the Longhorns' most productive players on Tuesday night, contributing 77% of Texas' points. The guards, other than Pope, struggled to get involved scoring-wise in the contest, as Tramon Mark, Chendall Weaver and Simeon Wilcher added just five total points. Nic Codie, who got the starting nod at power forward, scored four points and brought down four offensive rebounds.

Duke guard Isaiah Evans and forward Cameron Boozer combined for 38 points to propel Duke to its first victory of the 2025-26 season. The Blue Devils converted nine three-pointers, shooting 39.1% from deep, and earned 22 points from the free-throw line.

The final scoreline indicates a more one-sided affair than it was in Spectrum Center. For much of the game, Texas proved its capability to battle with a premier program and showed flashes of impressive play on both sides of the floor.

The Duke game was the first checkpoint for Miller in evaluating where the team is and where it needs to be. In their four home games over the next two weeks, the Longhorns will have a chance to clean up the weaknesses and build upon the strengths before taking on Arizona State in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 24.