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.
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.”
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 be playing a 6 seed BYU team that’s really good in Portland, Oregon for a March Madness game to potentially get to the round of 32? There’s not much other motivation you need than that.”
Swain finds himself in the same spot as last year, when he helped Xavier earn a narrow First Four victory — against Texas, ironically — and had to play another tournament game in another state two days later.
Xavier ended up losing to Illinois in the next round, but Swain’s experience back then could still go a long way in getting his Texas teammates ready for Thursday.
“It’s a blessing to play in the tournament no matter what the route is, whether you have to play two days before, the day before, whatever it is. It’s a good feeling,” Swain said. “We were all super blessed to be there. Hopefully we can capitalize off of (the First Four win) this year.”
As for facing a superstar in BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Swain views such a challenge as another boost of motivation.
“He’s a super talented player, potentially the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft,” Swain said of Dybantsa. “I see myself as an NBA player in the future as well. I’m a competitor, it brings that energy out of me. I put the team first. I am trying to impact the game as much as I can to help our team win no matter who we’re playing against.”
The Longhorn players all had plenty of nice things to say about BYU — but they made it clear that as much as they respect the Cougars, they definitely aren’t afraid of them.
“They’re a great offensive team, you know,” Mark said of BYU. “They have great guys that can get downhill. They have guys that can shoot. They have great offensive rebounding. They’re big. They’re a good team. They’re solid all around. We have to come out, play our game plan and execute.”
“A really good offense with a really good point guard, obviously AJ, a nice rim protector with shooters around them,” Pope added. “Being able to come into this game executing our game plan, knowing what we need to do defensively to give ourselves the best chance at winning.”
Texas head coach Sean Miller watches his players warm up during a practice the day before a first-round college basketball game against BYU in the NCAA Tournament held at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
