FINAL: Longhorns' season ends in the First Four, Texas falls 86-80 to Xavier
The Texas Longhorns are scheduled to take on the Xavier Musketeers in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four for the right to take on Illinois.
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Inside Texas has provided a generous amount of preview materials throughout the week which can all be found here.
We’ll also live-blog this game, which is set to tip off at 8:18 p.m. Central on tru TV.
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Xavier mounts the comeback, ends Texas’ season
03/19/2025 10:30:00 PMXavier outscores Texas 34-18 over the final 13 minutes to defeat the Longhorns.
Xavier leads by two at the final media timeout
03/19/2025 10:17:02 PMXavier takes its first lead since the 14:48 mark of the first half on hustle and hot shooting from three, including some made shots from John Hugley IV and Dailyn Swain. The UD Arena is going crazy. 78-76 Xavier 3:33 2H.
Xavier erases the Texas double-digit lead
03/19/2025 10:05:30 PMThe Musketeer offense found its rhythm and has hit five of their last seven shots. Meanwhile, Texas has gone cold with several turnovers in the past few minutes. Xavier will go to the line with three free throws and the opportunity to take their first lead since it was 10-9 with 14:48 left in the first half. 67-65 Texas 7:28 2H
Texas leads by 10 with 12 minutes left
03/19/2025 09:51:11 PMThe Longhorns have Tre Johnson with 18 points and Tramon Mark with 14 points. Texas is shooting 5-for-8 from the field in the second half, with a 3-for-4 effort from deep. Xavier’s Zach Freemantle becomes the third Musketeer to pick up his third foul, along with Dailyn Swain and Ryan Conwell. XU hasn’t scored in 2:20. 62-52 Texas 12:00 2H.
Longhorns withstand Xavier’s surge, lead by 7
03/19/2025 09:43:45 PMAfter the Musketeers cut it to a two-possession game, the Longhorns break things back to as large as 10 before a well-run transition three makes it a seven-point game once again. The Longhorns are content to live in the halfcourt with Tramon Mark running point, and the contributions have come from all over. Kadin Shedrick had a phenomenal read, steal, and dunk, and Chendall Weaver continues to play tenacious defense. 57-50 Texas 14:51 2H
Xavier cuts the lead to four early in the second half
03/19/2025 09:36:07 PMXavier goes on its run, cutting an 8-point halftime lead to four. Texas is 1-for-2 from the field, while Xavier is 3-for-4 in the second half. The crowd is a factor now, as a pro Xavier crowd is extremely energized and making a lot of noise. 50-46 Texas 17:00 2H
HALFTIME: Texas 47, Xavier 39
03/19/2025 09:10:52 PMXavier does a great job hitting its last five field goals, but the Longhorns keep the Musketeers at bay despite the torrid shooting effort in the final few minutes from Xavier.
Texas holds an 11-point lead with 3:24 left in the half
03/19/2025 09:08:09 PMTexas has forced Ryan Conwell to pick up his third personal foul, and will certainly try to get Zach Freemantle to do the same. Horns still shooting 57% from the field and have dropped down to 50% from three. Texas is also 7-of-10 from the line. The Longhorns are winning every major statistical battle save for bench points, where they trail by one. 41-30 Texas 3:24 1H
Texas leads 32-21 with 7:15 left in the first half
03/19/2025 08:52:40 PMThe Longhorns are now in the bonus with 7:15 left. The almost homecourt advantage hasn’t really manifested itself for the Musketeers as Texas has been able to build an 11 point lead. Everyone is getting involved, as seven Longhorns have scored. Texas hitting shots at a good clip, making 57% from the field and from three. Longhorns up 32-21 1H.
Texas goes on a 9-0 run
03/19/2025 08:34:24 PMChendall Weaver takes over the game, making fantastic hustle plays to provide opportunities for others and making a coast-to-coast drive himself. Tre Johnson forces Zach Freemantle to pick up his second foul, then comes down on the next possession to hit a fadeaway three to put Texas up 18-10 with 13:09 1H.
Tied at 5 after 4:02
03/19/2025 08:26:06 PMBoth teams trade buckets to start, then a few missed bunnies by Tre Johnson result in poor transition defense from the star freshman that allows a Xavier three. Arthur Kaluma makes up for it with a converted and-1. Xavier pushing the pace, as expected. Not a lot of multi-pass possessions for Texas, but significant amount of dribble drives when the Longhorns believe they have the right matchup. 5-5 15:58 1H
Texas and Xavier starters
03/19/2025 08:14:29 PMJordan Pope, Tramon Mark, Tre Johnson, Kadin Shedrick, and Arthur Kaluma will start for Texas. Marcus Foster, Ryan Conwell, Dayvion McKnight, Dailyn Swain, and Zach Freemantle starting for Xavier.
