Sean Miller gets real on Texas Longhorns’ ‘virus’ after loss to Kentucky

The Texas Longhorns walked out of Rupp Arena with another narrow loss on Wednesday night, falling 85-80 to Kentucky in a game that once again highlighted a recurring issue under first-year head coach Sean Miller. While the Longhorns showed competitiveness throughout the contest, Miller made it clear afterward that one fundamental flaw continues to undermine his team.

Miller delivered a brutally honest assessment of what he believes is holding Texas back. Speaking after the game, he framed the issue as a self-inflicted problem rather than something caused by opponents or officiating.

“What our team, and this is a Texas problem, has is we have a virus called fouling, and it has plagued us from the opening tip of the first game until tonight. It’s not the officials. It’s not Kentucky. We will foul the living s**t out of you,” said Miller, via Jalen Brown of Orangebloods.com. “You describe the foul and the team that I’m coaching will commit it…I’m not messing around, the officiating was fine. It was called the right way. We fouled. Two of the last fouls in the last minute and a half, two minutes, one and a half court, and one like under five seconds where you just stay down. And if he makes the shot, he makes it. We have to be able to play defense without fouling.”

The numbers backed up Miller’s frustration. Texas committed 23 fouls, sending Kentucky to the free-throw line 35 times. The Wildcats converted 30 of those attempts, a decisive factor in a game that was tied 40-40 at halftime and swung on execution late.

Miller later expanded on why fouling is especially damaging for this particular roster, noting that Texas isn’t built to rely on turnovers to offset mistakes.

“Our team isn’t really put together to turn you over. So if you’re not turning them over and you’re fouling, it really makes it difficult on the defensive end,” Miller added. “If we did a better job of playing, not just in this game, but in some others of not fouling, we would have a couple more wins under our belt because we’re not that far off. So my charge is to continue to work, to develop, to teach, to stay on it, and to demand it, and to be more disciplined as we move forward.”

“We have a virus called fouling… we will foul the living s*** out of you.”

– Texas HC Sean Miller on the team’s defensive fouling issues this season#Hookem | #Texas pic.twitter.com/RKUcrSSEPX

— Jalen Brown (@jalenpolobrown) January 22, 2026

The loss dropped Texas to 11-8 overall and 2-4 in SEC play, with five of the eight Longhorns who saw the floor finishing with at least three fouls, underscoring the discipline issues Miller referenced. Texas now returns home with a chance to reset against the Georgia Bulldogs before a challenging road stretch later in the month.

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