OTF Premium Live Thread: Zoom call with Sean Miller after Texas makes the NCAA Tournament

[Jeff Howe]

We're moments away from a media Zoom call with Texas men's basketball coach Sean Miller. The Longhorns made the field of 68, earning a First Four game against N.C. State in Dayton on Tuesday.

[Jeff Howe]

Coach Miller is here. We're about to get started.

[Jeff Howe]

Sean Miller is indicating that Texas might be headed to Dayton first thing in the morning.

[Jeff Howe]

The early indication is that Texas-N.C. State will be the late game in Dayton on Tuesday.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: Texas is thrilled to be a part of the NCAA Tournament, something he never takes for granted, going back to his days as a player at Pitt.

[Jeff Howe]

The thrill of winning an NCAA Tournament game "is second to none, in all of sports," Miller said.

[Jeff Howe]

Familiarity with Dayton and the arena can help Texas, Miller said.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "I wouldn't say I'm surprised at all that we got in. There are some really smart people that pick the field. There are no favors here."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "There has been nothing easy for our team."

[Jeff Howe]

"We know the schedule we played," Miller said. "We know what we're capable of."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "I don't think it's easy enough to say that we haven't played well."

He mentioned losing to Arkansas on the road after the Razorbacks were routed by Florida.

Had Texas won one of the last two games, Miller knows Texas would've been "one seed higher on the seed line."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller told the team that he should've been better going into and during the Ole Miss game.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said Texas was "playing in mud" to start the Ole Miss game, indicating that they let the loss to OU carry over to the SEC Tournament.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller believes Texas "is super excited to keep playing."

[Jeff Howe]

Like Texas, Miller said N.C. State didn't finish as strong as they probably would've liked.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller calls the Wolfpack "very explosive" on offense, adding that Will Wade's team benefits from "balanced scoring."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "We have to get back to playing our best."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "I don't think we ever had a chance, nor did I take it upon myself to separate the end of the regular season" from the start of the postseason with the team's first (and only) SEC Tournament game in Nashville.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller compares the loss to OU and dropping the game to Ole Miss to the two-game stretch when Texas lost to Mississippi State and then didn't play well in a road loss to Tennessee the next time out.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller's message to the team has been to treat the NCAA Tournament as the start of a new season, and what happened against Ole Miss doesn't matter.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller gave the Longhorns a couple of days off after the loss to Ole Miss.

He believes the team has been in NCAA Tournament mode for the last couple of days.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said this team is ready to embrace the moment in Dayton.

[Jeff Howe]

Why did the Longhorns win 18 games and win nine SEC games?

"It really starts on the offensive end," Miller said.

Turnovers have been a major issue in the last two games, he said. Many of those, Miller added, were live-ball turnovers.

[Jeff Howe]

Playing offense and committing fewer than 10 turnovers is what Texas needs to do to be successful in the NCAA Tournament, he said.

[Jeff Howe]

It's "healthy" that Miller's staff and a lot of the players on this team know what it's like to start the NCAA Tournament in Dayton.