Texas' season ends at the hands of Xavier, putting Rodney Terry's tenure as head coach in serious jeopardy

Xavier’s second half was better than Texas’ first half, and as a result the Longhorns’ season ended in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.

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Texas had a great first 20 minutes versus Xavier, leading by as many as 13 and taking it to the Musketeers. Texas was beating Xavier at Sean Miller‘s own game, scoring in transition and shooting at a blistering rate to take an eight-point lead at half.

But Miller‘s offense woke up in the second half and made its run, erasing several second-half double-digit leads to turn the First Four game into a nailbiter over the final three minutes.

Texas could not answer the bell on offense in that span, scoring just two points to Xavier’s eight. XU, who had the better offense all year, played up to its standard while Texas’ could not offer a response in order to seal an 86-80 win. The Longhorns’ season ends, and now questions about the future of Rodney Terry‘s hold on the Texas head coaching job take center stage ahead of the 2025-26 offseason.

Texas was essentially playing a road game at the UD Arena in Dayton, just under an hour away from Xavier’s campus. The pro-Musketeer crowd rattled the Longhorns over the final few minutes, with many of the same players who were wildly successful in the first half missing opportunity after opportunity in crunch time.

Xavier would surge over and over, often cutting the lead to one, but Texas was able to keep XU at bay thanks to timely baskets from Tre Johnson or free throws from Kadin Shedrick. But in the most critical moments, the crowd helped Xavier take over, poise left the Longhorns, and a team that defended a fast-paced Musketeer offense decently well for much of the game collapsed.

In what was almost certainly his final game in a Longhorn uniform before heading to the NBA, Johnson scored 23 points on 6-for-14 shooting with a 4-for-7 outing from three. But his emotions often took control of him, and a late Musketeer and-one conversion caused by a Johnson foul gave Xavier the momentum for good.

Tramon Mark scored 16 points, had five assists, and also pulled down four rebounds. But for the first time since taking over the point guard role, Mark coughed up possession more than twice and stacked up four turnovers. Shedrick was the only other Longhorn in double figures with 11.

Though he wasn’t a major scoring threat, Chendall Weaver scored seven points, had three rebounds, two assists, and three steals. He was a certified pest on the defensive end against the Musketeers, and made an impact noticed by Miller in his sideline interview during the first half.

Xavier took the lead for the first time since the 14:48 mark of the first half when John Hugley IV hit a three-pointer with 5:07 left. There was not a hard closeout on him as he had only hit 10 total threes all season. But the shot was part of an eight-point run that electrified the UD Arena and put momentum in Xavier’s hands.

Texas would tie with 2:53 left via a Jayson Kent layup, but that would be Texas’ final field goal.

Musketeer forward Zach Freemantle, who struggled with foul trouble for most of the game, scored six points in the final two minutes, including the emphatic dunk after Texas could not foul off the in-bounds pass, to put the game at its final 86-80 margin. Marcus Foster led Xavier with 22 points on an 8-for-9 shooting night, including a 4-for-5 effort from three.

Texas played one of their best halves of the season in the opening 20 minutes, but it was all for naught. The Longhorns hit 58% of their field goals and 50% of their shots from distance. The Horns led in several major statistical categories including field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage, and turnovers. In the second half, Texas was 38% from the field and 44% from three.

A Musketeer offense that thrives on pace and entered Wednesday in the top-100 of KenPom’s adjusted tempo managed 17 scores on 33 possessions in the first half. Texas one-upped Xavier, posting 22 scores on 35 possessions. Mark and Johnson were each in double figures after the first 20 minutes. The 47 points allowed by Xavier was their most in the first half of a game all year.

But Xavier responded with their own 47-point half, ending Texas’ season.

The Longhorns season had been living on the razor’s edge dating back to the start of the SEC Tournament, and the journey finally ends at 19-16 for Terry’s crew.

Texas will enter next season without Johnson, Mark, Shedrick, Kent, Ze’Rik Onyema, Julian Larry, and Arthur Kaluma, as all but Johnson have exhausted their eligibility. Johnson will head to the NBA Draft. Of course, the portal could come calling for anyone on the Longhorn roster, as is the norm in modern college basketball.

But there’s now increased pressure on Terry, who since guiding the Longhorns to the Elite Eight as interim in 2023 in Chris Beard‘s stead, has only achieved one postseason win as full-time head coach. The Longhorn roster was disjointed and not fully healthy for most of the season. When it finally was at its full complement, it looked scintillating at times but eventually regressed to its mean of an 11-seed that went 6-12 in Southeastern Conference play and 19-15 prior to the NCAA Tournament.

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Whatever happens next, it won’t be another game Friday. Texas’ season is over, and that may not be the only thing related to Texas men’s basketball that ends.