Texas Trails Tennessee at Halftime in March Madness Defensive Battle

The Texas Longhorns trailed the Tennessee Volunteers at halftime of Saturday's second-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament.

March 23, 2024, Charlotte, NC, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Max Abmas (3) is defended by Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht. / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The No. 7 seed Texas Longhorns and No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers found themselves in a physical defensive battle in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Charlotte on Saturday, but 11 Texas turnovers allowed Tennessee to take a 28-19 lead headed into halftime.

Texas was led by Dylan Disu (five points) and Max Abmas (three points, four rebounds). The Volunteers were paced by Tobe Awaka (eight points) while Dalton Knecht, Zakai Zeigler, Josiah Jordan-James, Jordan Gainey and Jonas Aidoo all had four points apiece.

The Longhorns got stops on their first three defensive possessions and Disu opened up the scoring with a triple. Tennessee answered with some stifling defense and its own while Jordan-James and Aidoo both scored in the paint.

After a two-minute scoring drought for Texas, Chendall Weaver got free for a layup at the 12:17 mark. The Vols eventually built a 10-6 lead at the under-12 timeout before Disu hit a mid-range jumper. Tennessee started getting into a groove offensively thanks to more tough defense and built the lead up to eight at 16-8 behind a 6-0 run.

Coming out of the timeout, Texas answered back with a 6-0 run of its own that saw Tyrese Hunter hit a mid-range jumper and Kadin Shedrick get free underneath for a dunk. After Knecht finally got his first points on a pair of free throws, Abmas nailed a triple to make it a 18-17 lead for the Vols with 6:39 to play in the half.

Momentum changed quickly in Tennessee's favor after Brock Cunningham was called for a flagrant foul. Following the pair of free throws from Gainey, Zeigler hit a corner triple and Knecht finally got his first field goal as part of a 10-0 run.

The Longhorns headed into the locker room down 28-19.