Texas aims to extend their streak, but a crucial matchup against struggling LSU could impact NCAA Tournament hopes with a single misstep.
Texas is riding high on a four-game winning streak, and on Tuesday night, it has a great chance to extend it to five when they face off against LSU.
The Longhorns streak has catapulted them to seventh in the Southeastern Conference, with a 7-5 record in league play.
On the other hand, the Tigers are reeling, having lost six of their last seven games, and sporting an SEC-worst 2-10 conference record.
It'd be easy for the Longhorns to overlook this matchup, but this game may be just as important as their two remaining contests against ranked opponents.
Texas has jumped all the way up to a nine seed in ESPN's Joe Lunardi's Tuesday NCAA Tournament bracket.
However, the NCAA Tournament has been known to penalize teams with bad losses heavily, and a loss to LSU would count as such, especially if it falls to a Quadrant 3 opponent by season's end.
They're sitting safely inside the bracket for now, but another bad loss on their resume could put the Longhorns right back on the bubble.
And that's not a fun place to be in late February
The Tigers' defense has been abysmal this season, allowing 75.3 points per game, which ranks 227th in college basketball.
This is something Texas has to exploit.
The Longhorns have developed into one of the nation's best offenses under head coach Sean Miller, scoring 85.2 PPG, ranking 22nd in the country.
Texas has also been extremely efficient with the ball in its possession, ranking 6th in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom.
If the Longhorns can continue their high offensive success rate, it could blow LSU out of the water.
On defense, Texas is a bit more shaky.
While improved, the Longhorns still allow 74.4 PPG, good for 202nd in college basketball.
The Tigers have a solid offense, ranking 51st in KenPom's offensive rating category.
They're led by a quadruplet of players averaging over 13 PPG, including leading scorer Max Mackinnon, who averages 14.5 PPG, shooting almost 40 percent from three.
If Texas is not careful, it risks getting LSU going on offense and getting into a tightly contested battle.
On Monday, Miller told the press what he wants his team's mindset to look like going into the rest of its season.
"Be alert. There's no day-dreaming," he said. "Be attentive to the segment we're at, trust what we're doing, so when it ends, we have great peace of mind that we did what we needed to do."
The Longhorns are looking to leave no doubt come Selection Sunday.