NASHVILLE — Tennessee and Texas will meet for the second time this season on Friday, this time in the SEC Tournament in Nashville.
The 13-seed Longhorns defeated 5-seed Texas A&M, 94-89 in double overtime at Bridgestone Arena, winning their second game in as many days.
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Texas beat Vanderbilt to open the tournament on Wednesday.
The 4-seed Vols (25-6), who earned a double-bye, won the lone matchup between the two teams, 74-70 back in January at the Moody Center in Austin.
Texas is fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, while an outside chance remains for Tennessee to pick up the fourth No. 1 seed depending how it performs in Nashville.
The Vols went one-and-done a year ago, losing to Mississippi State before their Elite Eight run, and outside opinion is that Tennessee will be a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament and shouldn’t drain itself with a three-day run at the SEC Tournament.
Rick Barnes says otherwise.
“I don’t think there’s a team out there that’s not going to go to Nashville wanting to win every game,” Barnes said. “Winning is a habit, so is losing. So I mean, if you let down and your players see you’re not trying to go at it, I just think it sends the wrong message.
“You’ve got to go in and focus like we have all year and deal with the result when it’s over with.”
The Longhorns (19-14) have certainly played that way the last two days, especially with the rest of its postseason fate at stake.
Tennessee had an up-and-down end to its regular season. The Vols beat Alabama on Jahmai Mashack’s game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in a game that moved them into the 1-seed in most bracketology projections.
But Tennessee followed it up with a loss at Ole Miss, losing its lead late after getting out-rebounded and out-scored in the paint.
The Vols endured a shortened path to the SEC Tournament finale by beating South Carolina in their final game of the regular season.
Whether or not they’ll take advantage will be determined Saturday afternoon.
GAME INFORMATION
Who: 13-seed Texas (19-14) vs. 4-seed Tennessee (25-6)
When: Friday, March 14 | 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Bridgestone Arena | Nashville
TV: SEC Network (Dan Shulman, play-by-play; Jay Bilas, analyst; Jess Sims, reporter)
Radio: Vol Network (Bob Kesling, play-by-play; Bert Bertelkamp, analyst)
Series: 10th meeting all-time (Tennessee leads, 6-4)
KenPom Projection: Tennessee 72, Texas 63
PROJECTED LINEUPS
NUMBERS EDGE
POINTS PER GAME
Texas 78.2
Tennessee 74.5
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Texas 46.3%
Tennessee 45.4%
THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE
Texas 36.1%
Tennessee 34.6%
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Everything Rick Barnes said ahead of SEC Tournament
ASSISTS
Tennessee 15.9
Texas 13.0
REBOUNDS
Tennessee 37.2
Texas 35.9
BLOCKS
Tennessee 5.1
Texas 4.3
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