BYU vs Texas Preview: What to Watch, Keys to Game, Prediction

Texas nearly blew a 9-point lead in the final two minutes versus NC State, but Tramon Mark hit the go-ahead basket with 1 second left as Texas held on to advance.

The Longhorns now travel from Dayton, Ohio to Portland, Oregon where they will play BYU Thursday at 4:25 PT. BYU arrived to Portland on Tuesday.

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Texas and BYU by the Numbers

Texas KenPom: 37

NET ranking: 42

Record: 19-14 (9-9 Big 12)

Best Wins: NC State (twice), Alabama (A), Vanderbilt (H), Georgia (H), Oklahoma (A), South Carolina (H), Ole Miss (H), Mizzou (A), LSU (H), Texas A&M (A)

Losses: Duke (N), Arizona State (N), Virginia (H), UConn (A), Mississippi State (H), Tennessee (A), Texas A&M (H), Kentucky (A), Auburn (A), Georgia (A), Florida (H), Arkansas (A), Oklahoma (H), Ole Miss (N)

AP Ranking: n/a

BYU KenPom: 23

NET Ranking: 23

Record: 23-11 (9-9 Big 12)

AP Ranking: n/a

KenPom Prediction: BYU 84, Texas 81 — BYU 60% win probability

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Point Spread: BYU -1.5; you can get odds at FanDuel

Point Total: 159.5

Texas Overview

Texas came into the NCAA Tournament having lost 5 of their last 6, but have a potent offense and are capable of advancing when they are on.

Despite a defensive battle versus NC State, offense has been the strength of the Longhorns this year. Texas ranks 18th in KenPom offensive efficiency and were 4th out of 16 SEC teams in conference play. The Longhorns run a slow pace and rely on getting to the foul line. They have the fourth highest free-throw rate in college basketball. They also are good on the offensive glass.

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Defensive is where Texas has had their struggles. They rank 95th in KenPom defensive efficiency and are bottom half in the SEC in many defensive metrics. Texas doesn’t force many turnovers, and are 301st nationally in 3-point defense, allowing opponents to shoot 36% from three. That was even worse in SEC play; opponents shot 37.5% from distance. Big 12 opponents shot 37.9% from three versus BYU, so we have two teams that were terrible at guarding the three in…

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Publish date : 2026-03-18 05:24:00

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