How Texas A&M Loss Showed Sean Miller About His Team's Post-Halftime Issue

Trailing by three late in the first half, a Tramon Mark buzzer-beating triple restored a tie in the contest heading into halftime. But coming out of the break, Bucky McMillan's Aggies took advantage of Rylen Griffen's shotmaking abilities to put the Longhorns in a deficit they ultimately could not recover from.

"For most of the game, I thought we played a lot of effort and we did some great things," Miller said postgame. "But that four-minute segment, what happened in that four-minute segment, was a reflection of us not understanding the stakes here, and from that point on, we just don't have that luxury and room for error to overcome a four-minute segment like that in any game of the 18 in the SEC."

Texas' return from the locker room saw them defer to a Texas A&M tempo of play that led to 12 Aggies points in just three and a half minutes. Miller seems certain that the stretch will serve as a learning lesson about coming out with greater intensity. Yet heading into a matchup with a Kentucky team that is building off two impressive double-digit road comebacks, starting the second half faster is a challenge essentially required to escape with victory from Rupp Arena.

"You got to be ready to go. So we have to, not necessarily bounce back, but we have to be ready," Miller said. "We can't give them six to eight points on some of the actions that they run to create those easy plays. We have to come out after halftime and be the same team as we were for most of the first half, entire first half, and we have to be able to execute and play well."

The Longhorns' offense has proven not to be the issue. Miller's team ranks fifth in field goal percentage and in the top half of points per game amongst SEC programs. But defensively, Texas ranks fifth-worst in field goal percentage given up and sits in the bottom half of points allowed per game.

"It has to be a collective effort of five guys, great concentration, great effort, being connected, being in the right place, on and off the ball, and then, by the way, sustaining it," Miller said of Texas' defense. "There are times A&M scored in the last 10 seconds of the possession. We played really good defense for 15, 20, 22 seconds, and then we broke down. We're playing against a good offensive team, as well, but until we're able to just do that better ... we're leaving ourselves very vulnerable."

The second-half defensive performance against Texas A&M will not cut it as the Longhorns continue to face high-caliber conference opponents. And as March approaches, their defensive tendencies are a point in need of improvement if Miller and company hope to make some noise and reach the postseason.