Tre Johnson and Tramon Mark scored 19 points each to help 13th-seeded Texas hold off No. 12 seed Vanderbilt 79-72 on Wednesday in a Southeastern Conference tournament first-round slugfest in Nashville, Tenn.
The Longhorns won despite not making a field goal in the final 6:17.
The Longhorns (18-14) — considered a bubble team to make the NCAA Tournament — advanced to play rival Texas A&M, the No. 5 seed, in the second round on Thursday. Texas and Texas A&M split their two games this season.
Texas, which had lost four of its past five games entering the tournament, led by 15 points at halftime.
The Longhorns stoked their lead to as many as 18 points before Vanderbilt (20-12) pulled to within 72-65 when Devin McGlockton hit a short jumper with 1:34 to play to cap a 10-2 run. Late free throws by Mark and Kadin Shedrick helped the Longhorns finish out the win.
Jordan Pope added 14 points, Arthur Kaluma scored 11 and Jayson Kent took 10 rebounds for Texas.
Vanderbilt’s Jason Edwards led all scorers with 20 points while Tyler Nickel had 14. Chris Manon hit for 12 and McGlockton finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Commodores now await their fate for the NCAA Tournament.
The Commodores led early before Texas reeled off 12 straight points, with a dunk by Shedrick giving the Longhorns a 15-7 advantage at the 11:41 mark of the first half.
Texas increased its lead to 17 points when Kaluma’s thunderous dunk off a jabstep was followed by Mark’s layup and two free throws by Shedrick, the latter with 1:09 remaining in the half.
Vanderbilt got a layup and two free throws from Tyler Tanner to cut into the deficit before Johnson poured in a jumper to give Texas a 41-26 advantage at the break.
Kaluma led all scorers with 11 points before halftime while Johnson and Mark had nine each for Texas.
Manon’s six points paced the anemic Vanderbilt attack; the Commodores shot just 31 percent from the floor in the half, were 1-for-9 from beyond the arc and produced their fewest points in a first half all season.
–Field Level Media
