Though the Longhorns headed into the 2026 SEC Tournament with a head full of steam after losing to Oklahoma in their regular season game, Texas found a way to shoot itself in the foot last night against Ole Miss.
The Longhorns were absolutely dominated in the frontcourt by the Rebels, who managed to score 50 of their 77 total points in the paint last night.
Matas Vokietaitis, Nic Codie, and Dailyn Swain did okay from a rebounding perspective, but they weren't able to consistently stop Ole Miss big men Malik Dia and James Scott from scoring yesterday. The Longhorns were also having trouble with cutters all night long, which resulted in multiple easy baskets for the Rebels' guards.
To be 100% honest, something just felt off last night. I'm not sure whether the team wasn't prepared, or if they were looking past Ole Miss to their next game against Georgia, but Sean Miller's group wasn't motivated last night.
It's pretty safe to say that everyone noticed it as well:
This Texas team just feels lifeless...
— Evan Vieth (@EvanVieth) March 12, 2026
Complete collapse in the final three games of the year. Nothing going for the offense, zero impact from the role guys.
I still think they corral a play-in game with a loss, but that feels so terrible after the back half of February.
At a loss for words. Can't imagine how pissed the fanbase must be, especially the ones that flew out to watch this team just absolutely not care one bit about a very important game.
— Keenan Womack (@KeenanWomack) March 12, 2026
Losing by double digits to a 4-14 team in conference. Just a head-scratching effort.
Texas…
Ole miss!? Really? 😂 @dkrewz https://t.co/aj35DOXY3q
— Taylor Villarreal (@Taylor_Enrique) March 12, 2026
I take it back, Texas basketball is cooked. They can’t play defense about it give up 80 to ole miss. Over was the play.
— Jack M (@floridajack11) March 11, 2026
It was an incredibly bad loss to a bad team, and though Texas is still technically alive for the 2026 NCAA Tournament, this loss will make them sweat leading up to Selection Sunday.
One of the only reasons why the Longhorns are still in the mix is that all of the teams that are surrounding them in the middle portion of the SEC standings have been losing as well. Hopefully, with this loss, Texas will more so stay at the same spot (which is still in tournament-level consideration) rather than dropping down the rankings.
Longhorns fans everywhere will be glued to their TVs on Selection Sunday to see whether or not Sean Miller and Co. make it into the March Madness bracket this year.