With 26 seconds left on the clock, junior forward Dailyn Swain recorded his fifth steal against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Running into his half of the court and avoiding a foul, Swain was met with a standing ovation from the Moody Center crowd that had made its way to the game despite the brewing winter storm.
As the crowd stood cheering, the final buzzer sounded, signaling an 87-67 win for the Longhorns over No. 21/22 Georgia. With the win, Texas claimed its fourth AP Top 25 win of the season and third Southeastern Conference victory — all against ranked teams.
“I thought it was a good win,” Swain said. “We had a great defensive performance. Sealing the win with the steal is the exclamation point.”
Coming to Austin, the Bulldogs were the No. 1 offense in the country, averaging 94.8 points per game. Georgia was able to move against a disjointed Texas defense in the first half, leading 37-30 at the break. However, it was the second half where the Longhorns’ defense was in full effect.
Swain led the team with five steals, two of which came in the opening minutes of the second half, where Texas scored from the turnover. This ultimately helped Texas gain momentum out of the break as Swain’s second steal, fourth overall of the night, led to a layup that put the Longhorns ahead with 17:54 remaining on the clock.
The Longhorns were also able to out-rebound the Bulldogs, 32-25 and 21-14 on the defensive glass. The defensive rebounds were key in getting defensive stops that would allow Texas to play quick in transition as if they had just gotten a steal.
“One of the things that happened in the second half is we got a lot more stops, so we were able to break out,” head coach Sean Miller said. “That’s what we’re best at… We get points in transition, and they’re trying to prevent that. Our defense fueled our offense, and the pace went up.”
Offensively, Swain and graduate guard Tramon Mark were responsible for more than half the team’s points — Swain with 26 and Mark with 23.
Both players were efficient all across the floor, with Swain shooting 75% from the field and Mark getting 62.5% of his shots to fall. From beyond the arc, Swain made two of four shots, while Mark made three of his seven shots from range. Swain also played 39 of the 40 minutes, only being subbed out around the eighth minute of the game.
“Swain and Mark really willed our team, not only the entire game, but especially in the second half,” Miller said. “(Swain) playing the way he played at Kentucky, and now playing the way he played here today against Georgia, I think these are the best two games I’ve ever seen him play in a row.”
Texas will head back on the road to take on Auburn on Wednesday, with tip-off set for 6 p.m CT.
