In the battle between the two UTs, Texas men’s basketball held its own against the No. 1 Tennessee, taking its third Southeastern Conference loss 74-70.
“The first game (in the SEC) was probably our texas-falls-to-no-1-tennessee-in-hard-fought-74-70-defeat/” title=”Texas falls to No. 1 Tennessee in hard-fought 74-70 defeat”>worst loss, and we just been stacking it, stacking days and stacking practices and stacking games overall,” freshman guard Tre Johnson said. “So I just feel like us learning how to close out those last four minutes and learning how to win and cherish each possession will be great for us.”
The game started slowly, with the crowd of fans seemingly split evenly between the two UT teams. Tennessee fans’ enthusiasm traveled well in the stadium, while the Texas crowd was uncharacteristically quiet in the beginning for a home crowd.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes is a known face among Texas fans, as he led the Longhorns for 17 years before leaving for Knoxville in 2015. While he’s more familiar with the energy at the old Frank Erwin Center, Barnes looked comfortable in the Moody Center. Possibly the most familiar thing Barnes encountered in Austin was current Texas head coach Rodney Terry, who was an assistant under his tenure from 2002 until 2011.
“I bet I can almost go in the locker room and tell you what Rodney said because he’s been with me so many times,” Barnes said. “I can assure you he knew what I was saying.”
Although the Longhorns missed their first five three-pointers, it didn’t let the No. 1 team get too far ahead.
Johnson made the first three of the night from deep in the court, looking more like himself as the ball easily swished in the net. Johnson followed the shot with a defensive rebound, getting an excited hug from junior guard Jordan Pope afterward.
“He knows, as another great shooter, just the rough start I had these last past two games,” Johnson said. “So I think that shot was a big one for me and we kind of both knew that it was just gonna be a long night.”
Johnson ended the night as the point leader with 26 points, scoring over 20 for the first time since he got hurt in mid-December.
With Texas and Tennessee going almost point for point, Texas needed its break. It was Johnson who stepped up and gave it to them, scoring eight consecutive points and making Tennessee call a timeout with a block that made the crowd erupt. Johnson had scored just 11 points in the previous two conference games, unlike his typical performances.
Pope also stepped up for the team when they needed him to, scoring 17 points.
“I feel like we also got to incorporate his shot-making ability as well because he can shoot the ball amazingly,” Johnson said. “So I feel like (if) we find ways to get him open shots, we’ll be just right.”
However, in the end, Texas was unable to hold its lead in the last few minutes of the game.
“We’re still learning what it’s going to take to finish these games and SEC play down the stretch at winning time,” Terry said. “It’s a growth curve for us and at some point we’ll have a breakthrough with it. All you can do right now is stay the course and keep working.”
The Longhorns will make their way across the Red River to play their next game against Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 15th at 9 p.m.
