Junior guard Dailyn Swain fights through contact to get to the rim in a game against Florida at the Moody Center on Feb. 25, 2026.
With just under eight minutes left to play at the Moody Center, junior forward Dailyn Swain hit a mid-range bucket to tie the game at 61-61 between Texas men’s basketball and No. 7 Florida.
The Longhorns forced a turnover on the following possession, and after a media timeout, the referees reviewed a prior play that elevated a two-point shot from the Longhorns to a three-point shot. The changed call gifted Texas a one-point, 62-61 lead.
It wasn’t just any lead, though. At the time of the reversed call, the Longhorns were leading the reigning national champions. Head coach Sean Miller was within striking distance, adding another ranked win to their March Madness resume.
Texas never led the game afterward.
Gator fans chomped their hands as Longhorn fans walked the opposite direction to the exits. “Let’s go Longhorns” chants became “Let’s go Gators,” and the words of the Texas Fight chant became indecipherable under the volume of the away crowd.
The Longhorns had just let a win slip through their hands, falling 71-84 to the Gators.
“Our guys really fought,” Miller said. “We were ready to play first four minutes. Second half, we hung in there. We got it all the way to the eight-minute mark. It’s at that point in both (Georgia and Florida), we just haven’t been able to finish. Turnovers, stops, we just kind of go away in leadership, toughness, guys stepping up and making plays like we’ve done throughout the season.”
Texas was unable to produce defensive stops once it got out of the timeout around the eight-minute mark. The 62-61 lead the Longhorns had with 7:49 left to play disintegrated in one minute and six seconds, with Florida leading 66-64 and 6:43 left on the shot clock.
The Gators only missed three shots from that point of the game, with sophomore guard Boogie Fland scoring nine of the 18 points. The Texas backcourt struggled to defend Fland down the stretch as they were constantly caught out of position because of turnovers and the quick transition from Florida’s team.
“Down the stretch, I thought the last 12 minutes of the game, we did a really good job of pushing through and wearing them down a little bit,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said. “We did a much better job defensively in the second half, which opened up transition for us.”
Offensively, the Longhorns were too turnover-prone as they started to chase the game. After the 7:27 mark, Texas was unable to produce a field goal, only scoring seven points from the free-throw line.
The Longhorns faced a tough and physical defense that produced 11 blocks throughout the game, but they only hurt themselves with 12 turnovers. Five of the 12 turnovers were in the last seven minutes of the game.
Senior guard Jordan Pope had the first of those five late-game turnovers, trying to uncharacteristically squeeze the ball past two defenders instead of waiting to find an easier and safer pass.
“(Florida’s) pressure wore on us a little bit. … As a player, you can get frustrated, you start to sense it’s not (going to) happen and you lose your concentration,” Miller said. “But, Florida is very good on defense. When you look at the numbers, … they’re at a very high level in conference play.”
Texas is now 8–7 in conference play, with away affairs against Lone Star Showdown rival Texas A&M and No. 20/17 Arkansas and a home finale against Oklahoma.