Texas enhanced its NCAA Tournament aspirations last week when it picked up a Quad 1 win over Kentucky.
After a week off, the Longhorns start a stretch against some of the teams below them in the Southeastern Conference and hope to continue improving their chances Saturday night in Columbia, S.C., when they visit South Carolina, which is winless in conference play.
Texas (16-10, 5-8) is among seven teams with a losing record in SEC games but holds a NET rating of 35, the highest of any of those teams. The Longhorns are seeking consecutive wins for the first time since beating ranked foes Missouri and Texas A&M Jan. 21 and 25.
Texas earned its third win over a ranked foe when Tre Johnson scored a career-high 32 points and Tramon Mark added a season-best 26 in its 82-78 win over Kentucky. The duo combined for 11 points in a game-ending 18-9 run that erased a five-point deficit in the final 3:51.
Johnson is the Longhorns’ top scorer at 19.8 points per game and has topped 20 points in five of his past seven games.
Mark’s breakout occurred after he shot a combined 2-of-14 in his previous two games. He helped Texas get the victory while second-leading scorer Arthur Kaluma (knee) sat out along with Chendall Weaver (groin, hip), who has been out since getting hurt in a loss to top-ranked Auburn on Jan. 7.
“I think there’s a lot of basketball to be played,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “We’re one day at a time in practice, one day at a time at game time. I thought our guys came in this week with a great attitude and great approach, and I thought they carried that over and followed the game plan in terms of what we were trying to get done in this ball game.”
South Carolina (10-16, 0-13) is returning home following a pair of double-digit losses at No. 3 Florida and LSU. The Gamecocks trailed by 14 at halftime in Tuesday’s 81-67 loss to LSU and committed 18 turnovers.
“That’s what’s bewildering to the old coach at times. One day it’s turnovers, other times it’s rebounding, another day you can’t make a shot, another day you can’t stop anybody,” coach Lamont Paris said on his postgame radio interview.
Jamarii Thomas scored a season-high 23 for the Gamecocks after shooting 9-of-35 in his previous three games while Collin Murray-Boyles finished with 16.
The team has been much more competitive in South Carolina, with five of its six SEC losses of five points or fewer coming at home, including a three-point loss to Auburn and a one-point loss to Florida.
–Field Level Media
