Texas men's basketball has been playing lights out over the past month, currently on a 5-game SEC win streak heading into Saturday's matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs. Though they're "only" 17-9 right now, if they finish the year strong, they'll definitely be a contender to make it into the 2026 NCAA tournament.
If they're going to make it in and be a serious contender this season, they desperately have to improve on a few key metrics over the next two weeks.
Defensive fouling
Thankfully, the Longhorns have been a little better in this category as of late but they still need to improve on defense. Sean Miller has been harping on it all season long, specifically with Matas Vokietaitis, and things appear to be getting better for the 7-footer, so he just needs to stay disciplined.
Heading into the game this weekend, Texas currently ranks 320th in all of college basketball when it comes to opposing free-throw attempts per game at 23.8. There's no way that the Longhorns are going to be successful if they continue to hand opponents a free 15-20 PPG on free throws.
Assists per game
With the amount of talented defenses that Texas would see in the tournament, the Longhorns won't be able to keep up their scoring streak if they don't start moving the ball around before shots. As we see every year, teams that try to just isolate defenders and make 2-3 passes before
taking shots (like Texas currently does) get knocked out pretty quickly.
Defenses know how to limit and shut down offenses that don't spread the ball around and make them think. The Longhorns are only averaging 12.2 APG right now, good for 273rd in the league. That absolutely has to change if they're going to have any chance at being competitive.
Three-point shooting
As we all know, Dailyn Swain, Tramon Mark, and Matas Vokietaitis are the main catalysts in Sean Miller's offense. We also know that they live and die in the short-intermediate areas of the floor when it comes to scoring.
The Longhorns need to be able to shoot 3's at a consistent clip to help dig themselves out of a hole in the tournament. They're only taking 21.4 three-point shot attempts per game right now, and making just 7.4 of them, which ranks 237th and 212th, respectively.
One of the main ways that teams can get themselves out of sticky situations in the tournament is through 3-pointers, and it would be hard to see Texas being able to do that if they get behind early.