No. 13 Texas will play for its NCAA tournament when it squares against No. 12 Vanderbilt on Wednesday afternoon in the first round in the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
The winner of that game plays fifth-seeded Texas A&M in the second round on Thursday afternoon.
Longhorns (17-14) is on the outside of the NCAA tournament field and must defeat Vanderbilt (20-11) and probably Texas A&M to get consideration for a large bid. Texas has lost seven of the last nine matches, including a setback of 76-72 against Oklahoma at home on Saturday.
Jordan Pope led Longhorns with 21 points in the loss to The Sooners while Tramon Mark and Arthur Kaluma each brought 12. Three Johnson, Sec’s leading goal scores and the conference’s beginner year, ended with a career-low seven points while they missed all 14 of his shots from the floor.
“There is no game two in the SEC tournament if you don’t win Game One,” said Texas coach Rodney Terry. “It’s a season with a game right now, when it comes to competing this time of year. So that’s where our focus will be when it comes to controlling what you can control.”
Vanderbilt is considered a lock to be a large team in NCAAS.
Commodores beat Texas at home 86-78 on February 8 but go to the SEC tour with two straight losses to unlimited teams. The latest backlash was a road loss of 79-68 against Georgia on Saturday.
Jason Edwards led Vanderbilt with 24 points in the loss to Bulldogs, while Chris Manon and Jaylen Carey finished with 10 points per piece. If Commodores makes NCAAS, it will be their first performance since 2017.
“We won eight matches in the toughest league in the league’s history,” said Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington. “Every game is a battle and we are a bit beaten right now. I’m proud of how (my team) played, and (they have) done very good things. It will come more. The regular season is over – at tournament time.”
With the Sec tournament in Nashville, the collision with Texas can be interpreted as a home game for Vanderbilt.
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