The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
19-15,6-12SEC
Tennessee
26-6,12-6SEC
Men's Basketball falls 83-72 to No. 8/6 Tennessee in SEC Tournament Quarterfinals
03.14.2025 | Men's Basketball
Pope and Shedrick posted 14 points each to pace the Longhorns on Friday afternoon.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Junior guard Jordan Pope and graduate forward Kadin Shedrick both recorded 14 points, but Texas (19-15) dropped an 83-72 decision to No. 8/6 Tennessee (26-6) in a SEC Tournament quarterfinals contest in Bridgestone Arena on Friday afternoon. The Longhorns concluded their first SEC Tournament appearance in program history with a 2-1 mark.
Pope converted 4-of-9 field goals and 5-of-5 free throws while adding three rebounds in 27 minutes, while Shedrick was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and hit 4-of-5 free throws and grabbed six rebounds in 30 minutes. Freshman Tre Johnson registered 11 points (3-8 FG, 4-4 FT) and two assists in 32 minutes.
Tennessee jumped out to a 21-14 advantage following a Chaz Lanier layup at the 11:14 mark, before the Longhorns responded with a 6-0 spurt over the next two minutes to pull to within 21-20 after a Pope jumper with 9:10 remaining. A Jayson Kent layup trimmed the margin to 23-22 at the 8:30 mark, but the Volunteers scored six-straight points to build a 29-22 cushion following an Igor Milicic Jr. free throw with 7:18 left.
A pair of Jahmai Mashack free throws gave Tennessee a 33-26 advantage at the 5:22 mark, before Texas scored five-straight points to cut the gap to 33-31 after a Johnson three-pointer with 4:20 remaining. A Tramon Mark jumper at the buzzer brought the Longhorns to within 41-38 at the break.
Texas trimmed the deficit to 49-44 following a pair of Johnson free throws at the 16:29 mark, but the Volunteers used a 9-1 spurt over the next three-and-a-half minutes to increase their advantage to 58-45 after a Lanier three-point play with 12:58 remaining. Tennessee extended its cushion to as much as 15 points (65-50) following a Zeigler free throw at the 9:54 mark. The Longhorns closed the margin to 75-65 after a pair of Chendall Weaver free throws with 3:43 left and later pulled to within 79-72 following a pair of Pope free throws with 39 seconds remaining. The Volunteers sealed the win by converting 4-of-4 free throws in the final 33 seconds.
The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is slated for Sunday, Mar. 16. The 68-team bracket will be revealed at 5 p.m. CT on CBS.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
SEC Tournament Quarterfinals
#8/6 Tennessee 83, Texas 72
March 14, 2025
Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tenn.)
Attendance: 17,526
Team Notes
- Texas fell to 54-45 all-time in conference postseason tournament games with today's loss.
- UT concluded its first appearance in program history in the SEC Tournament with a 2-1 mark.
- Texas dropped to 4-2 in neutral-site contests and 8-8 overall in games played outside of Austin this season. This total includes SEC road wins at both Oklahoma (77-73 on Jan. 15) and then-No. 25/nr Mississippi State (87-82 OT on Mar. 4), along with Wednesday's 79-72 victory over Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament First Round and Thursday's 94-89 2OT win against No. 14/16 Texas A&M in the Second Round.
- UT fell to 7-11 in Quad 1 games this season.
- Seven Texas players scored at least seven points during the contest.
- The Longhorns recorded an 18-12 margin in bench scoring.
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the 30th time in his career (32 games)
- Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for the 17th time this season (34 games) and 71st time in his career (98 games)
- Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for the 15th time this year (34 games) and 48th time in his career (142 games)
