The Rodney Terry era in Austin looks to be coming to an end. Texas fell short of a March Madness run after suffering a devastating 86-80 loss to Xavier in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday night.

Xavier overcame an early deficit and took control in the second half behind a balanced scoring effort. Texas saw a strong performance from freshman standout Tre Johnson, who finished with 23 points, but the Longhorns couldn’t hold off the Musketeers’ late surge.

The game opened with a back-and-forth battle as both teams struggled to find offensive rhythm early. Texas took an early 2-0 lead with a Tramon Mark layup, but Xavier responded with a Ryan Conwell basket to even the score.

The Longhorns built their largest lead of the half at 18-10 after a three-pointer from Johnson at the 13:16 mark. However, Xavier answered back with a three from Dante Maddox Jr. and a layup from Zach Freemantle, cutting the deficit to 23-17.

Texas maintained control for most of the half, but Xavier made a late push, with Jerome Hunter drilling a three-pointer with 23 seconds left to bring the Musketeers within six. A last-second jumper from Mark sent the Longhorns into halftime with a 47-39 lead.

Xavier came out strong after the break, opening the second half with a layup from Dailyn Swain and a three-pointer from Freemantle, trimming Texas’ lead to 50-44.

The Musketeers continued their push, and a dunk from Freemantle at the 17:07 mark made it a four-point game at 50-46. Texas answered with a layup from Arthur Kaluma, but Xavier stayed aggressive.

With 10:47 remaining, Xavier pulled within five after a three-pointer from Marcus Foster cut Texas’ lead to 62-57. The Musketeers took their first lead since early in the game when John Hugley IV knocked down a three-pointer with 5:07 left to put Xavier ahead 75-74.

Texas struggled to reclaim control in the final minutes. A jumper from Freemantle with 1:48 to go gave Xavier an 80-78 advantage, and clutch free throws from Freemantle and Swain sealed the deal for Xavier.

With the season ending the way it did questions loom over the future of head coach Rodney Terry. Multiple sources indicate that Texas is expected to move on from Terry, though no official decision has been announced. Texas now heads into the offseason facing uncertainty, while Xavier advances to the next round of the NCAA Tournament.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Longhorns Hoops fall short in NCAA First Four to Xavier, 80-86