No. 10 Longhorns Fall in Early Hole, Unable to Recover in Loss to No. 4 Tennessee

The Texas Longhorns saw firsthand why the Tennessee Volunteers have arguably the best defense in college basketball.

The No. 10 Texas Longhorns took a break from Big 12 play on Saturday night, as they traveled to Knoxville to take on the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

But a "break" from the toughest league in college basketball hardly served as a chance for Texas to sit back and relax against arguably the best defense in the nation. The Horns (17-4, 6-2) found themselves in an early hole and were unable to recover, as the Vols (18-3, 7-1) were able to comfortably cruise to an 82-71 win. 

The Longhorns had their chances at a comeback in the second half, as they trailed 69-58 with about five minutes remaining. But despite Texas gaining some significant momentum, the Vols did just enough late to secure the win.

The game marked the first meeting as head coaches between longtime Longhorns head man Rick Barnes and Rodney Terry, Texas' acting head coach. Terry was an assistant on Barnes' staff in Austin for nine seasons.

Tennessee was led by a dominant interior performance from forward Olivier Nkamhoua, who led all scorers with a season-high 27 points and eight rebounds while guard Zakai Zigler added 22 points and 10 assists.

The Longhorns were led in scoring by Sir'Jabari Rice, who posted 21 points off the bench. Rice, Brock Cunningham (11 points) and Marcus Carr (11 points) were the only Longhorns to reach double figures in scoring, as the rest of Texas' starters outside of Carr combined for just 16 points.

Tennessee entered the contest allowing the fewest points per game in the nation (53.7) and lived up to the billing, as the Vols suffocated the Horns in the later stages on the first half to take a 40-28 lead headed into halftime.  

Texas took a 12-11 lead right before the 13-minute mark after Arterio Morris got open for a soft slam underneath. But that marked the last time the Longhorns had the lead, as Tennessee then forced them into a six-minute scoring drought before taking a commanding 22-point edge that was almost impossible to overcome, even for a Texas team that has had a few comebacks this season.

Things don't get any easier for the Longhorns, as they host the No. 17 Baylor Bears on Monday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CT.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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