Texas basketball falls short of Tennessee, Rick Barnes in hard-fought March Madness loss
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Texas basketball showed plenty of fight Saturday against Tennessee in a NCAA Tournament second-round matchup at Spectrum Center. But the Longhorns couldn’t show enough straight shooting in a 62-58 loss that prevented them from reaching a second consecutive Sweet 16.
The seventh-seeded Longhorns (21-13) made just 37% of their shots but still took No. 2-seeded Tennessee (26-8) to the final whistle.
Texas sophomore guard Chendall Weaver, who transferred to Texas from UTA in the summer, capped a breakout weekend of sorts by tying Tyrese Hunter for team-high 13 points. Weaver had 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting in Thursday’s first-round win over Colorado State.
However, the All-Big 12 tandem of Dylan Disu and Max Abmas, which led Texas in scoring all season, combined for just 7-of-28 shooting and 22 total points against a physical Tennessee team.
The two teams combined for enough bricks in the first half to build yet another new skyscraper in Uptown Charlotte. Texas shot just 30.8% from the field before the break, which was still somehow better than Tennessee’s 28.6%. To add to the ugliness, the two teams combined for 17 turnovers by halftime.
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But the rock-fight type of game shouldn’t have come as a surprise, considering the strong coaching ties between the two programs. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes coached from 1998-2015 at Texas, where he leaned on a physical, rugged style while leading the Longhorns to 16 NCAA Tournament berths and their lone Final Four appearance in the modern era.
Texas coach Rodney Terry served as an assistant for nine seasons under Barnes in the 2000s, and he’s made no secret that he tries to emulate the tough-as-nails approach preached by his former boss.
After the game, Terry and Texas assistant Frank Haith — who also worked for Barnes at Texas in the 2000s — each shared a long hug with their friend and mentor. While Barnes and Tennessee advance to face either Creighton or Oregon, Texas will return to Austin and start forming next year’s roster. The transfer portal opened Monday, and Terry and his staff know for sure that starters Disu, Abmas and Ithiel Horton as well as iron man Brock Cunningham — the program’s all-time leader in wins and games played — will graduate and leave campus.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball falls to Tennessee, Rick Barnes in March Madness loss
