No. 10 Texas falls to No. 4 Tennessee 82-71 in matchup between Texas’ past and present
January 28, 2023
Texas interim head coach Rodney Terry’s first top-10 matchup came Saturday night against No. 4 Tennessee in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The two sides squared up last year in Austin, with the Longhorns holding off a late surge by the Volunteers to win by one point. This year, the two title-hopefuls met in Knoxville.
Saturday’s game was also Terry’s first game as a head coach against his former boss, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes.
“Coach Barnes and I, we’re like family,” Terry said. “(I have) so much respect for him not only as a coach, but as a person.”
Barnes served as Texas’ head coach from 1998-2015, leading the team as far as the Final Four in 2003. From 2002-2011, Terry was an assistant coach under Barnes.
Both teams came out with strong defense, especially Tennessee, who boasts the nation’s best defensive rating and gives up an average of 53.7 points per game. Midway through the first half, the Volunteers took a 22-17 lead.
The Longhorns had trouble containing senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua, who scored a quick eight points, as well as senior guard Josiah-Jordan James, who added nine and played a key role in Tennessee’s 9-0 run, forcing an early timeout from Terry.
Things didn’t get much better for Texas after the timeout, however. The Volunteers continued their stifling defense and went into the break up 40-28.
Graduate student guard Marcus Carr, Texas’ leading scorer on the season, was held scoreless in the first half.
However, the Toronto product scored on his first two shots of the second half, but the Volunteers had an answer both times.
Graduate student guard Sir’Jabari Rice was keeping Texas in the game, however. His 21 points led Texas, and his three-point shooting gave the Longhorns hope that it wasn’t over yet.
Carr, Rice and graduate student forward Brock Cunningham helped bring the game within eleven for the first time since early in the second half.
Tennessee’s lead wouldn’t ever get below 10, however, and the Volunteers held on to win 82-71, led by Nkamhoua and sophomore guard Zakai Zeigler’s combined 49 points.
