A bounce back was needed. They got it.
Tennessee defeated Texas in a tough, scrappy affair 74-70 in Austin on Saturday night.
Before Saturday, the two now-SEC foes last met in March Madness in Charlotte, with Tennessee winning 62-58 to earn back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances.
Turns out the Vols would earn another gritty win over Rodney Terry’s horns in similar fashion.
To start, Senior Guard Chaz Lanier opened things up for the Vols scoring with a three. Igor Milicic added one of his own soon after to bump up the lead 6-2.
Texas had a cold start, going 0-4 from the floor, but recovered to claim an early lead.
A three-minute early scoring drought seemed too familiar for the Vols until a Darlinstone Dubar three tied it up to end the drought.
10 first-half turnovers proved to be a sore spot for the Vols. Five more in the second half followed. This led to 21 Longhorn points. This cannot happen moving forward for Barnes’s squad to make another deep run in March.
Zakai Zeigler appeared to sustain an injury in the last few minutes of the first half. He returned to the game, making a big three with 30 seconds left in the half.
The halftime score was 33-31 in favor of the Vols. The second half would prove to be more of a seesaw affair with back-and-forth scoring that saw six ties and a few lead changes.
Texas freshman Tre Johnson put together an impressive performance with 26 points— a team-high for the game—albeit in a losing effort.
Felix Okpara was one of many players who came up huge down the stretch for the Vols. He grabbed nine boards, had three blocks, and scored 7 points. His inside presence helped the Vols claim a 41-27 edge on the glass—something the Vols couldn’t do earlier in the week in Gainesville.
Clutch free throws from Zakai and Gainey wrapped things up, as a few buckets from Texas proved no difference as the clock winded down. Rick Barnes was once again successful against his former program.
Overall shooting was better for the Vols this time around; 44.6% from the field and 43.5% from three. 16 assists also helped the cause; half of which came from Zakai Zeigler.
Tennessee returns home to Knoxville for a matchup with Georgia and a familiar face in Mike White. The former Florida coach is also the older brother of Tennessee’s Athletic Director Danny White. Unlike football season, the Vols have had the edge recently in this series, going 6-4 in the last 10 games and have won 4 in a row. The contest is scheduled for Wednesday, January 15, at 8 pm ET.