Head coach Rodney Terry and the Texas Longhorns (18-14, 6-12 SEC) looked like a completely different team in the opening round of the SEC men's tournament against the Vanderbilt Commodores (20-11, 8-10 SEC).
After dropping four of its last five and seven of the last nine to finish out the regular season, the Longhorns played its most complete game on both ends of the floor in a decisive win over Vandy to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive this postseason.
Thanks to double-digit scoring efforts from senior forward Arthur Kaluma and freshman guard Tre Johnson, the Longhorns are still in the conversation to make the NCAA Tournament for the fifth postseason in a row.
Coming into today's game, ESPN's Joe Lunardi had the Longhorns as one of the "first four out" among the bubble teams for this postseason in the NCAA Tournament.
Texas jumped out to an early lead against Vandy and never really looked back after taking a commanding 15-point lead into the locker room at halftime. Three Texas starters (Johnson, Kaluma, and senior guard Tramon Mark) all scored at least nine first-half points to spark the Longhorns' offensive scoring this afternoon.
Texas held off a late a late-game Vandy run to secure a 7972 win to open the SEC Tournament.
Texas controls the paint
A big problem for the Longhorns this past regular season was controlling the glass and paint scoring. The Longhorns ranked 15th in the SEC in paint scoring and 14th in the conference in rebounding (per CBB Analytics).
Texas set the tone in the first half, wiping Vandy in paint scoring and on the glass in the game's first 20 minutes. Led by Kaluma, Texas outrebounded Vandy by a double-digit margin and held a +8 advantage in points in the paint in the first half this afternoon.
In the first meeting between Texas and Vandy this season, the Longhorns were outrebounded and outscored in the paint by the Commodores.
Setting the tone with paint scoring allowed the Longhorns to free up more space in other places on the floor in the settled offensive halfcourt to give room for Johnson to score the basketball and guards Jordan Pope and Mark to provide valuable secondary midrange and deep scoring.
Tre Johnson responds offensively
The bad loss to Oklahoma in the regular season finale was a low point for Johnson during this otherwise magical true freshman campaign he's put together for the Longhorns this season. Johnson went 0-of-14 from the field and 0-of-4 from beyond the arc in Texas's loss to the Sooners in Austin in the Red River Rivalry game on the hardwood last Saturday.
It was evident from the start of this game against Vandy this afternoon that Johnson was more locked in and in rhythm shooting from the field. Johnson knocked down a couple of early key baskets to help Texas establish a comfortable lead over Vandy in the first half.
Adding another handful of field goals in the second half to close out Vandy in the SEC Tournament, Johnson had a nice bounce back game with over 15 points on better than 40 percent shooting from the field and over 35 percent from deep.
He scored in double figures in the second half to lead Texas's offense to secure this important win over Vandy to kick off the SEC Tournament for the Longhorns.
Texas still needs more big wins
Terry and the Longhorns had their backs up against the wall in every sense of the phrase going into the SEC Tournament vs. Vandy today. Texas knew its season was over, after the bad losses down the stretch this past regular season to the Georgia Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks, and Oklahoma, if it exited the SEC Tournament as a one-and-done this week.
The Longhorns got the job done and live on to fight another day for its NCAA Tournament chances. Texas gets a rematch against the in-state rival and three-seed Texas A&M Aggies in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday afternoon.