Tre Johnson Leads Texas Longhorns Past No. 15 Kentucky to End Losing Streak

Tre Johnson scored a game-high 32 points for the Texas Longhorns in Saturday's win over the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats.

Zach Dimmitt | Feb 16, 2025

Feb 15, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Tre Johnson (20) goes up to dunk during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

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AUSTIN -- Big Blue Nation tried to rock the Moody Center on Saturday night but their vacation plans to Austin were foiled.

Tre Johnson scored a career-high 32 points and Tramon Mark added 26 of his own as the Texas Longhorns used a late 11-0 run to secure a much-needed 82-78 win over the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats. The win ends a three-game losing streak for the Longhorns, who move to 16-10 overall and 5-8 in SEC play.

Johnson also added a career-high nine rebounds and three assists. Mark was the only other player in double figures for the Longhorns, who were without second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Arthur Kaluma. Texas forward Kadin Shedrick scored all five of his points in the final 4:21 along with a big-time block of Kentucky big man Amari Williams in the final two minutes that led to a jumper from Johnson.

"Tre played really hard today defensively, and I thought that set the tone for us," Texas head coach Rodney Terry said. "We know we need him to score, but he played really hard and worked the game really hard defensively."

Feb 15, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Kentucky Wildcats center Amari Williams (22) posts up against Texas Longhorns forward Jayson Kent (25) during the first half at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Kentucky, which saw a notable number of fans in attendance, was without two keys starters in the backcourt as both Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler were out due to injury. In their absence, former Oklahoma sooner Otega Oweh led the Wildcats with 20 points while Amari Williams added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Ansley Almonor had 11 points and three rebounds.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said the Wildcats struggled with late execution.

"We have some incredibly painful moments from this game where we weren't present," he said.

The Longhorns were fighting on the glass early but got out to a 1 of 7 start from deep as Kentucky took an early 9-2 lead after a triple from Travis Perry. Texas responded with a 6-0 run and eventually took its first lead thanks to a catch-and-shoot triple from Mark to put the Longhorns up 20-17 at the 10:35 mark. Johnson then scored eight straight points for Texas for a 30-27 lead.

Kentucky took most of the momentum back to end the half thanks to six points from Almonor in the final five minutes and headed into the locker room with a 41-37 lead. Mark and Johnson provided most of the scoring for Texas in the first half, as they went into halftime with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

The two teams went back-and-forth to begin the second half but the Wildcats continued to lead before Mark put together one of the best individual sequences of the game. After hitting a triple when the defender went under the screen, he blocked a jumper on the other end that led to a run-out in transistion, as Jordan Pope found him downcourt for an and-one layup. This gave Texas a 54-51 lead with 12:39 in the second half.

Brandon Garrison and Kent then traded dunks before the teams combined for five straight points at the foul line, as Texas led by one at 61-60. Kentucky answered though, putting together a 6-0 run to jump in front 65-60.

After the Wildcats had built that five-point lead, Mark had a chance at a four-point play but missed the free throw. Shedrick secured the rebound for Texas but Julian Larry turned the ball right over to Oweh, who ran free for a dunk to squander the Longhorns' chance at momentum and give Kentucky a 67-63 lead with 5:04 left.

Johnson and Mark continued to battle though. Johnson had an impressive sequence where he secured his own miss twice, leading to an and-one layup and an ensuing free throw. Mark then proceeded to scorer four straight points of his own to give Texas a 71-70 lead with 2:30 to play.

This ended up being the beginning of the end for the Wildcats. Shedrick had a vicious dunk before blocking Williams' shot on the other end, leading to a fadeaway jumped from Johnson with 45.5 left to put Texas up 76-70. Johnson and Mark would combine to score nine of the 11 points during the late run, while Shedrick had the finishing touches.