Longhorns Country

Longhorns Escape Tennessee In Rick Barnes' Return 52-51

Texas survived a late push from their former longtime head coach Rick Barnes

Matt Galatzan

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AUSTIN - The Texas Longhorns welcomed the Tennessee Volunteers and former longtime head coach Rick Barnes back to Austin for the first time in seven years on Saturday night, hoping to get their first win of the season over a ranked opponent. 

And thanks to a big night from senior Courtney Ramey, they were able to do just that, edging Tennessee 52-51, and extending their winning streak to three games. 

Barnes, who coached Texas from 1998 to 2015 and led the Horns to four Big 12 titles and a Final Four appearance, also received a rousing ovation from the crowd upon his return to the Erwin Center. 

Barnes didn't make it easy in his return either, with the Volunteers going on a 19-3 run to close out the game, after the Horns led by 17 with 7:34 to go in regulation. 

Thanks to 18 points from Ramey, however, Texas was able to hold on, using a Timmy Allen free throw to take their final lead with six seconds remaining. 

Ramey's 18 points were a game-high on Saturday night, and he was the only Longhorn to score in double figures, despite the team shooting 54.1 percent from the floor, and 43.8 percent from beyond the arc. 

The Longhorns' biggest struggles came from the free-throw line, where they hit just 5 of 12 attempts, and with ball security, where they turned the ball over 18 times to the Volunteers 11.

Following the win, Texas will turn their attention to yet another ranked opponent, when Chris Beard heads back to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech for the first time since taking the head coaching job in Austin. 

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.