There was a stillness on the court as graduate guard Tramon Mark sent a shot seconds after the final buzzer sounded.
While Commodore players walked off the court and Texas fans scattered in the stands of Bridgestone Arena stood up out of their seats, Mark took time to swish an extra three and close out the 79–72 Texas win on a playful note.
The Longhorns officially advanced past the first round of the Southeastern Conference Championship.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” Mark said months ago after the Jan. 25 comeback win against Texas A&M.
That game of runs is something that head coach Rodney Terry emphasizes in the locker room.
“We’ve shown great flashes of that throughout the course of the year,” Terry said. “For 40 minutes, I thought we did that tonight. We’ve played some really good games for 35 minutes of the game and had nothing to show for it, but tonight I thought we put together one of our most complete games.”
Terry isn’t just talking about putting points up on the board. He’s talking about control and the Longhorns’ ability to turn a game in their favor.
Texas and Vanderbilt grappled for power in the first half until junior guard Chendall Weaver intercepted a Vanderbilt pass with 14 minutes on the clock. Immediately, Weaver found senior forward Arthur Kaluma in the Vanderbilt paint for two points.
The play tore a gaping hole into the Commodore defense, and Vanderbilt just couldn’t stop the bleeding for the rest of the half. Texas went into the locker room with heads held high as the scoreboard read 41–26. Back on the court 20 minutes later, Texas maintained that grip on the game despite all attempted upsets from Vanderbilt.
“Those moments are extremely important,” Kaluma said. “We have to capitalize on the energy that we have, and we’re able to keep producing, get stops and score easy buckets on that energy.”
It was the most complete game this season that the Longhorns had played, and success was distributed well across the board. Mark and freshman guard Tre Johnson had 19 points apiece, while junior guard Jordan Pope had 14, and Kaluma put up 11 with seven rebounds.
The final seconds of the game saw a Longhorn team basking early in its own victory.
“It’s do or die,” Mark said. “I’m still treating it as one game because usually, you’re still playing hard regardless. Just knowing in the back of your head that you’ve got to win to keep on playing.”
Mark, traditionally a shooting guard, played point guard for the first time all season and looked like a different player on the court. Although he accumulated four fouls, Mark’s movement across the hardwood was a huge asset to the Texas team.
“It’s a role I’m familiar with,” Mark said. “I’m very comfortable playing the point guard, so just knowing that and making sure the team gets what they need out of me.”
Texas’ control of this game is reflective of its run throughout the season. All odds were against the Longhorns as they entered the court. A potential loss was a reasonable conclusion to Texas’ 18–14 season and was expected by fans and experts alike, such as CBS Sports with its pre-game favor toward the Commodores by 2.5 points.
But just like in the game against Vanderbilt, Texas took control and extended their season for at least one more game in the hopes of redeeming eligibility for a March Madness seed in the NCAA’s upcoming Selection Sunday.
To keep those hopes alive, Texas will have to battle it out with No. 17 Texas A&M on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. For this team, it’s do-or-die season.
