Head coach Rodney Terry and the 13-seed Texas Longhorns (19-15, 6-12 SEC) saw their journey end in the SEC men's tournament against the four-seed Tennessee Volunteers (26-6, 12-6 SEC) on Friday afternoon in Nashville.
Texas was rolling to start the SEC Tournament, winning consecutive games as an underdog in the betting odds. The Longhorns defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores in a comfortable seven-point and an exciting double-overtime upset win over the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies on Thursday.
A busy few days for the Longhorns in the SEC Tournament culminated in another difficult and grueling battle for two halves against Tennessee and head coach Rick Barnes. Texas hung around with the Vols in the first half, only trailing by three points going into the locker room at halftime.
But the second half saw the Vols open up a bigger lead, eventually ending with a double-digit victory over the Longhorns to advance to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, by a final score of 83-72.
Tennessee controls the boards and wins the paint battle for points
It has been a recurring issue for Terry and the Longhorns over the past two seasons, rebounding the basketball effectively on both ends of the floor. Texas was -48 in rebounding differential in SEC play this season (per CBB Analytics).
The Vols had the edge in paint scoring, offensive, and defensive rebounding as senior Texas center Kadin Shedrick struggled to keep positioning down low.
Shedrick, Texas's leading rebounder, finished up with just three second-half boards. Outside of Shedrick and junior guard Chendal Weaver, Texas didn't have much of a consistent presence on the glass to speak of. It also struggled to challenge shots at the rim on the defensive end, with Tennessee blocking twice as many shots in the paint as the Longhorns this afternoon.
Secondary scoring flails
One of the big reasons why the Longhorns were able to outlast and upset the Aggies in double overtime yesterday was the secondary scoring support behind freshman guard Tre Johnson. Texas had all five starters score at least a dozen points against Texas A&M yesterday, including 14 points from Shedrick and 15 from clutch senior guard Tramon Mark.
But a combination of foul trouble and second-half shooting troubles caused Johnson and the Longhorns to only muster 34 points in the game's final 20 minutes, compared to over 40 for the Vols.
Johnson, after a solid first half showing on the offensive end, couldn't find his rhythm shooting from the floor in the second half. He shot just 1-of-5 from the field in the second half, including 0-of-2 from beyond the arc.
Going 14-of-17 from the free-throw line didn't matter much for the Longhorns in the second half when the team shot 0-of-8 from beyond the arc. It was only the second time this season that the Longhorns went 0-for from downtown against an in-conference foe over the past few months.
Texas remains in the picture for the NCAA Tournament going into Selection Sunday
Coming into this game, the Longhorns were the "last team in" the 68-team NCAA Tournament field this postseason, according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi. Texas winning those two games against Vandy and Texas A&M to start the SEC Tournament over the past few days this week kept the Longhorns alive on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament before Selection Sunday for this postseason.