Longhorns’ loss in SEC quarterfinals means they’ll sweat it out until Selection Sunday

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns are now playing the waiting game.

After two wins in the Southeastern Conference men’s basketball tournament, Texas fell to Tennessee 83-72 in the quarterfinals Friday in Nashville, Tennessee. Now the Longhorns’ March Madness fate is with the NCAA Tournament selection committee, who will reveal the field of 68 teams at 5 p.m. CDT Sunday.

Bracket projections and pundits all over the internet have the Longhorns squarely on the bubble — some have them in the First Four in Dayton, while others have them just missing the field. A win over the Volunteers would have perhaps sealed the deal and sent Texas dancing, but all of the metrics are pointing toward the team having a weekend of worries to see if they’ll get in.

“It’s going to be nerve-wracking, but it’s out of our hands now,” Longhorns guard Jordan Pope said. “We feel like we’ve proved throughout the season that we belong in the tournament with the teams we’ve beaten.”

Shedrick’s perspective differs, saying he’s not nervous at all.

“It’s out of our control,” he said. “What will happen, will happen. We fought hard this whole week to stay the course and we’ll see what it comes down to on Sunday. We’re going to keep going about our business like we’re going to play next week.”

The Longhorns missed six of their last seven shots, and the Vols kept the game comfortable for them from the foul line. Texas’s final field goal, a Chendall Weaver layup with 0:52 remaining, cut Tennessee’s lead to 78-69, but the Vols hit five free throws down the stretch.

Texas had the deficit down to three early in the second half after Tre Johnson hit a jumper at the 19:12 mark, but after the teams traded buckets for about five minutes, the Vols went on a 7-0 flurry to stretch their lead to 58-45 with 12:35 to go.

Chaz Lanier led all scorers with 23 points on 9 of 15 shooting, and Zakai Zigler poured in 19 on 6 of 8 from the field for the Vols. Tennessee outrebounded Texas 32-27 and shot 50% from the field. Jahmai Mashack scored 13 points, and Igor Milicic Jr. chipped in 12.

Kadin Shedrick and Jordan Pope scored 14 points each to lead the Longhorns. Shedrick was 5 for 5 from the field and 4 for 5 from the foul line with six rebounds. Johnson scored 11 on 3 of 8 shooting. Texas (19-15) sunk 18 of 21 foul shots but sent Tennessee to the line 35 times, where they converted 24.

Tennessee (26-6) moves to the SEC semifinals to take on top-ranked Auburn at noon CDT Saturday. Former Texas head coach Rick Barnes coaches the Vols.

Terry made his case for the Longhorns to be in the NCAA Tournament field, and while it could be considered hyperbole, he said this year’s SEC has been historic.

“We played in the best conference in the history of college basketball this season,” Terry said. “When you look at our body of work, we have seven Quad 1 wins, and I think we got in with five last year.”