Longhorns defeat Tennessee in Rick Barnes’ return to Texas

The Longhorns defeat Tennessee in Rick Barnes’ return to Texas.

No. 20 Tennessee (14-6, 4-3 SEC) lost a 52-51 decision to Texas (16-5, 5-3 Big 12) in the Big 12/SEC Challenge Saturday at the Frank Erwin Events Center in Austin, Texas.

In five minutes, the Vols did not score after halftime. The Longhorns led, 48-31, in the second half before Tennessee mounted a comeback. Tennessee’s Josiah-Jordan James missed a potential game-winning shot as time expired.

Texas and the Vols were tied, 51-51, after Victor Bailey Jr. scored with 1 minute, 9 seconds remaining.

The Longhorns, who led 27-25 at halftime, opened the second half by scoring eight consecutive points.

Texas completed an 18-2 run to open the second half and had a 40-27 advantage with 14:04 left in the game.

Texas guard Timmy Allen scored the winning point with 6.2 seconds remaining on a free throw attempt.

Courtney Ramey had a game-high 19 points for Texas. Allen and Andrew Jones scored nine points each.

Freshman Zakai Zeigler came off the bench to lead the Vols with 12 points.

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes served in the same capacity at Texas from 1998-2015.

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