What Texas players are saying ahead of Thursday’s NCAA Tournament tilt with BYU

PORTLAND, Ore. — Texas doesn’t want your sympathy.

It’s been an exhausting 24 hours for the Longhorns, who played in the First Four round of the NCAA Tournament Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio, then caught a red eye flight after the game and arrived in Portland, Oregon at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

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A round of 64 matchup with BYU awaits Texas on Thursday. The Cougars have had a week of rest and landed in Oregon before the Longhorns had even tipped off in Ohio. Texas, in the span of 48 hours, will have played two win-or-go-home games with a cross-country flight sandwiched in between.

But the Longhorns don’t want you to feel bad for them. They don’t want to hear any excuses about their situation. None of their seemingly unfavorable circumstances matter to them.

“We’re all adults. We’re grown men. We know what we signed up for,” Texas guard Dailyn Swain told reporters Wednesday. “I look at it as a privilege to be able to travel the way we do, and get to places as fast as we do, be able to get our sleep and have everyone manage our days as good as they do, make sure they prioritize our rest, get energy.

“Sometimes that can be an advantage, to already be in the flow in a tournament game. It will be (BYU’s) first game. I look at (playing in the First Four) more as an advantage, for sure.”

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No, Texas doesn’t feel restrained by its quick turnaround or lack of sleep. It feels energized and motivated to keep the flame alive and score an upset of 6-seeded BYU.

“We’re a team full of competitors,” said Tramon Marks, who hit the game-winning shot Tuesday night to stun NC State at the buzzer. “It won’t really be that much of a challenge for us to get up and play the game that we all love to do. So just coming out tomorrow, playing as hard as we can shouldn’t be a challenge. It won’t be a challenge actually. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Added guard Jordan Pope: “What more motivation, chip on your shoulder do you need than to…

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Publish date : 2026-03-19 03:21:00

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