DAYTON, Ohio — After his team’s thrilling 68-66 win over North Carolina State in a First Four game Tuesday at University of Dayton Arena, Texas basketball coach Sean Miller glanced down at his stat sheet and then looked up at the gathered media with a tight grin.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think I’m going to be accurate and I’m right: This might be the first game that I can really look at and say we won because our defense,” he said.
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His grin broke into a big smile, and why not? He himself has maligned his team’s defense all season. But the Longhorns’ ability to slow down a potent set of North Carolina State shooters — the Wolfpack had four starters shooting better than 40% from 3-point range — has propelled them into a first-round NCAA Tournament matchup Thursday with BYU in Portland, Ore.
The 11th-seeded Longhorns (19-14) shot just 36.8% from the floor. However, North Carolina State (20-14), which averages 83.7 points a game, made just 39% of their shots and didn’t get hot from downtown until a late flurry that helped erase an eight-point Texas lead in the final 2 minutes.
Texas guard Tramon Mark, who scored a team-high 17 points, made the winning shot with 1.4 seconds left on the clock. But his perimeter defense on the Wolfpack shooters proved almost as important as his clutch bucket, even after NC State made several late 3-pointers to tie the game.
“Credit to them, they hit some tough shots,” he said. “It’s not like we just had mistakes; they just made tough shots down the stretch to cut the lead. But we kept our composure, and we got the win.”
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And that win came because of defense, of all things.
MORE: How Tramon Mark and Chendall Weaver lifted Texas basketball to NCAAs | Golden
Texas guards Chendall Weaver, right, and Tramon Mark celebrate against the NC State Wolfpack during the second half in the First Four game of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 17, 2026, in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Dylan Buell/Getty Images
“One big thing when you play NC State is you have to defend the 3-point shot,” Miller said. “If you really look at the game, until the very, very end, it’s the thing we did the very best.”
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Defending that shooting stands in stark contrast to the earlier meeting between the teams, when Texas beat North Carolina State 102-97 at the Maui Classic in November.
“That’s what I think we can hang our hat on as we leave here, that we knew we could not allow them to get going from the 3-point line,” Miller said. “I think they made three or four really great shots at the end. I think all of them were contested, but for the other 38 minutes, we really probably did as good of a job in that area as maybe anyone has.”
Can the Longhorns, who allowed 85.7 points a game in their previous six contests entering the NCAA Tournament, keep up that defense against No. 6 BYU (23-11) and star forward AJ Dybantsa, who averages 25.6 points per game?
They’ll need to against a team that puts up 83.9 points a game. But the effort and energy Texas showed against North Carolina State provides a blueprint for tournament play, said Miller. And it provides a surge of momentum going in the first round.
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“I do think there’s power in playing a game in this tournament,” Miller said. “Sometimes a player or a team is not themselves. I don’t want to say jitters but March Madness looms big. I think our nerves sometimes can settle after game one. You can gain confidence. You already have one game to your advantage. But we’re going to have to play a really good team, and we’re definitely going to have to play better than we played tonight. We know that. But we get that opportunity. That’s the thrill of it.”
TEXAS VS. NORTH CAROLINA STATE: HOW TO WATCH
When/where: 6:25 p.m. Thursday in Portland, Ore.
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TV/radio:truTV; 1300 AM., 98.1 FM.