It felt like Texas was closing in on the knockout blow.

Tennessee's only trailed by a five with eight minutes left, but its turnover and shooting woes made the deficit seem even bigger. One more push by the Longhorns with the backing of their home floor, seemed like it might do in the No. 1 Vols for the second-straight game.

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Enter Darlinstone Dubar, the Tennessee guard who had been a spark off of the bench and fittingly, the one that ignited the Vols' final push to escape Moody Center in Austin with a 74-70 triumph.

It was Dubar's 3-pointer with three minutes left that put Tennessee back in the lead for good. He finished with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range and hauled in three offensive rebounds, but he was one of a few orange-clad heroes.

Zakai Zeigler made several critical shots down the stretch that not only kept the Vols hanging around, but provided the dagger with a minute to go, totaling a team-high 16 points and eight assists.

Felix Okpara scored 7, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking three shots. Jordan Gainey, another key piece in Tennessee's rotation, finished with 12 and hit a clutch three to extend the lead late.

The Vols (15-1, 2-1 SEC), who were coming off an uncharacteristic performance that resulted in a 30-point loss at Florida earlier in the week, had to overcome a lot to avoid a two-game losing skid.

Tennessee turned the ball over 15 times, including 10 in the first half. The Longhorns (11-5, 0-3) threatened to pull away at times as starters Igor Milicic Jr. and Jahmai Mashack sat stretches on the bench with foul trouble.

But ultimately, the Vols found a way and in the toughest league in college basketball, they will take that and the some momentum after an up-and-down week.

Tennessee missed its first 10 shots against Florida and didn't hit its first 3-pointer until the second half. It took less than two minutes for the Vols to do both at Texas.

Chaz Lanier opened the scoring with a three to give Tennessee the lead, but it wasn't necessarily indicative of a fast start--at least at first. It took another two-plus minutes for the Vols to score on an Igor Milicic Jr. three, but the Longhorns answered on a Tre Johnson jumper and then a Tramon Mark score to draw even at 6-6.

Johnson hit a jumper out of the first timeout to draw the Longhorns even again and it was followed by Tennessee's fifth turnover in as many minutes and a scoring drought that went nearly three minutes.

Texas took advantage, pulling ahead briefly before Darlinstone Dubar laced a tying 3-pointer to match the Longhorns, 11-11 with less than 11 minutes left in the half and ignite a 9-0 run that included a Felix Okapra and-1 and Jordan Gainey three to put the Vols back in front, 17-11.

Texas weathered Tennessee's run, though. The Longhorns responded with a 13-2 run of their own to take a 24-19 lead with inside of six minutes to go as turnovers piled up for the Vols. Lanier gave Tennessee a much-needed answer with his second 3-pointer of the half to get back within two at 24-22.

Okpara, one of the few bright spots in the loss at Florida, continued a strong first half with a layup that was part of a 6-0 scoring stretch for the Vols that put them back in the lead, 28-26 after Jordan Gainey scored.

Texas ended a 9-0 run for Tennessee, but Zakai Zeigler, who exited the game for a few minutes after catching a hip to his mid-section, knocked down a corner 3-pointer to swell the Vols' lead to 33-28.

The Longhorns used another late rally to get within one possession of Tennessee at the intermission after Johnson added another 3-pointer with four seconds left to cut the Vols' advantage to 33-31.

Tennessee's first possession of the second half ended like so many did in the first: an arrant pass from Lanier that sailed into the Vols' bench for their 11th turnover. It turned into Texas points on the other end.

Another turnover led to a Julian Larry layup in transition and a 40-37 Texas lead with 15:31 remaining, but the Longhorns were unable to add to it despite Tennessee's turnover woes. Zeigler knocked through a three for the 40-40 tie with under 15 minutes to go.

Johnson started to take over for Texas as the 10-minute mark approached. He scored on two-straight possessions, including one to answer a Cade Phillips put-back dunk to give the Longhorns a 48-45 lead.

Texas led by 5 for a couple of minutes and felt just one or two shots away from putting Tennessee in a deeper hole with eight and a half minutes left, but a Zeigler drive resulted in a layup and foul, pulling the Vols back within a possession at 54-52.

Lanier made a pair of free throws and Dubar, after grabbing a missed shot off the rim from Gainey, put it back emphatically to even the score at 56-56 with 6:13 left.

After trading baskets, it was fitting that Dubar, who had been stellar off of the bench, hit the go-ahead three to suddenly give Tennessee the lead with three minutes on the clock. Okpara and Gainey added some cushion with a dunk and 3-pointer to go up 66-60.

Texas got back within a possession, but Zeigler worked the clock and score with under a minute left to extend the Vols' lead to 68-63, all but finishing off any chance the Longhorns had of a comeback in the final seconds.

After splitting its first two SEC road games, Tennessee will return to Knoxville this week.

The Vols host an improved Georgia team at Food City Center on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, SEC Network).

The Bulldogs (13-2, 2-1) could find themselves in the rankings this week after scoring back-to-back ranked wins over No. 6 Kentucky on Tuesday and No. 17 Oklahoma on Saturday.

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