Texas vs Purdue: What Sean Miller says is the key to March Madness matchup
· Yahoo Sports
Texas basketball coach Sean Miller, 57, is one of those basketball lifers of a certain vintage who fondly recalls Bobby Hurley, the tough-as-nails floor general in the early days of the Duke dynasty who melded a sky-high hoops IQ with plenty of street smarts.
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So, when Purdue point guard Braden Smith broke Hurley’s record for career assists in a 104-71 win over Queens in a first-round NCAA Tournament game last week, Miller took notice.
“The fact that he broke Bobby Hurley's assist record, that has a lot of meaning to people my age and in my time in college,” said Miller, whose team faces Smith and Purdue in a Sweet 16 matchup Thursday in San Jose, Calif. “You’ve just got to remember: Bobby Hurley played four years at Duke and got very deep into the tournament. The number of games that he played, the greatness that he played with, the teammates that he had. … there's a reason that that record has stood the test of time.”
Hurley played in 140 career games for Duke from the 1989-90 season through 1993 and ended his collegiate career with 1,076 assists and an average of 7.7 assists per game. All those numbers translated to plenty of success; he led the Blue Devils to back-to-back national titles in 1991 and 1992.
His career overlapped two seasons with that of Miller, himself a scrappy point guard who started four seasons and played in 128 games for Pittsburgh from the 1987-88 season through 1992. Miller didn’t do too bad with the stats either, dishing out 744 career assists and averaging a robust 5.8 assists per game to go along with 10.0 points per contest.
But Hurley’s success reached another level, Miller said. And Smith’s achievements — 1,091 career assists and a career high 9.0 assists a game this season — look very familiar to the Texas coach.
“You go and break that record, I think that says everything about his (Smith’s) ability to pass, play (and) how he makes his teammates better,” Miller said.
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Texas head coach Sean Miller reacts during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against BYU, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (Amanda Loman/Associated Press)Things can’t get much better for Smith and No. 2 Purdue (29-8), who are on an offensive tear entering Thursday's matchup with No. 11 Texas (21-14). The Boilermakers have won their past six games, including the Big Ten tournament championship over Michigan. During that stretch, they’ve shot 52% from the field while averaging 81.8 points a game. They’ve taken almost 22 3-pointers in those six games while shooting 40% from 3-point range.
But Texas has played its best defense of the season in its three NCAA Tournament wins over North Carolina State, BYU and Gonzaga. All three of those teams rank in the top 36 of the nation when it comes to offensive efficiency, yet all three shot below and scored below their season average.
But Purdue will provide the stiffest test yet for the suddenly stout Texas defense, considering that the Boilermakers only rank behind Illinois in offensive efficiency.
Expect Texas guards Chendall Weaver, Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark to apply plenty of pressure on the 6-foot Smith while trying to replicate the defensive success of Miami, which forced the Purdue point guard into a career-high eight turnovers. But the Longhorns also have to keep an eye on Fletcher Loyer and the array of Purdue sharpshooters, who went a combined 8-of-14 from 3-point range against the Hurricanes.
But Miller likes the way his team plays defense, and he thinks it can slow down potent Purdue and the game’s most prolific point guard since, well, Bobby Hurley.
“Maybe we're just a little bit more disciplined not fouling,” he said. “Maybe we're more disciplined taking away threes. It’ll be a big statistic in the Purdue game: Can we limit their 3-point shooting and can we make them miss when they get them off?”
No. 11 Texas (21-14) vs. No. 2 Purdue (29-8): How to watch
When: 6:10 p.m. Thursday
What: NCAA Tournament regional quarterfinal
Where:SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.
TV/radio: CBS; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM