Texas men’s basketball could not surpass No. 2 Auburn in the team’s first Southeastern Conference home opener.
The Longhorns started with a 4-0 run, but as soon as the Tigers found their pace in the game’s early minutes, Texas struggled to retake the lead. Though a timeout huddle at the end of the first half seemed like a lifeline for the hosts as they figured out the paint job and a heroic performance by senior forward Arthur Kaluma, it wasn’t enough to avoid the 87-82 loss.
Kaluma led the team, scoring over half of his points in the first 20 minutes, while freshman forward Tre Johnson had another underwhelming night following his uncharacteristic performance against Texas A&M in the conference opener loss.
Head coach Rodney Terry had a lot to discuss with his team as he went into the locker room for halftime with a singular assist and no three-point baskets in the books.
Kaluma seemed to have gotten the most from the talk, breaking the team’s three-pointer drought with two scores from behind the line early in the second half. The Kansas State transfer recorded his career high in points with 34, surpassing his numbers against BYU in Feb. 2024.
“I really wanted to try to get (Auburn’s Johni Broome) in a lot of isolation situations, not just to try to score, but also to create,” Kaluma said. “I didn’t know it was gonna be a special night for me. The first shot went in and was ‘Okay, it’s doable.’”
What was once a domination for the Tigers became a five-point game with one minute on the clock as Kaluma hit another three-pointer. Texas fans stood in excitement, starting the first Texas Fight chant of the night.
Despite Texas fans’ renewed hope, Kaluma’s huge effort fell short in the end. Although junior guard Jordan Pope came in stronger at the end of the game to reach 19 total points after only having two in the first half, Texas couldn’t prevail without a more consistent backing from the rest of the team
“I wish I would have done that sooner,” Pope said. “I was just looking at it (trying) not to get too shaken up about (my early performance), and just keep playing my game, and eventually I’d able to leave my mark on it.”
Texas will return to the Moody Center on Saturday for another high-stakes game against top-ranked Tennessee.
The Volunteers were the last undefeated team in the country before falling to No. 8 Florida 73-43 in an upset. It’s safe to say Tennessee will be hungry to move on from the defeat as strongly as possible, and Texas must be able to stop a hungry opponent to avoid a third consecutive conference loss.
