No. 4 Tennessee gets payback against No. 10 Texas, 82-71

Zakai Zeigler remembered what happened a year ago against Texas, when a free throw with six seconds left lifted the Longhorns past Tennessee at the Erwin Center in Austin, after the Vols made a frantic comeback from down 16 in the final six minutes.

The sophomore point guard made the promise Wednesday that it wouldn’t happen again, with Texas making the return trip to Knoxville.

“I just know the last time we matched up,” Zeigler said, “they beat us and we remember that feeling. We’re not going to have that feeling on Saturday.”

Zeigler and senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua made good on that promise nearly on their own, combining for 49 points as No. 4 Tennessee got payback against 10th-ranked Texas with an 82-71 at Thompson-Boling Arena in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.

The Vols (18-3) were led by a career-high 27 points from Nkamhoua, who added seven rebounds. Zeigler had another double-double, his third of the season and second in over the last three games, with 22 points and 10 assists. Josiah-Jordan James had 14 points and seven rebounds and Santiago Vescovi scored 12 points to go with a team-high eight boards.

Texas (17-4) got 21 points from Sir’Jabari Rice and 11 from Marcus Carr.

Nkamhoua, after scoring 14 in the first half, started the second half with six straight. Ziegler followed with six straight of his own, making back-to-back threes to build the lead to 16, and made it 10 of 12 points after back-to-back layups. The lead was 22 after a Vescovi 3-pointer with 13:50 left.

Texas had the deficit down to 13 less than four minutes later, after a 6-0 run and later a Rice 3-pointer. Tennessee took a timeout with 9:55 left after not making a shot from the field for three minutes, 45 seconds.

The Vols answered out of the timeout with Nkamhoua wide open in the paint for a layup, then a Zeigler drive and scoop off the glass to get the lead back to 17 with 8:15 left.

Nkamhoua, Zeigler, James powered Vols to 14-point lead in first half

Tennessee led 40-28 at halftime, creating separation after holding Texas scoreless for over six minutes, then getting eight straight points from Zeigler.

Tyrese Hunter tied the game at 17-17 with a 3-pointer with 10:44 left in the first half, but it was the last points the Longhorns would score for the next six minutes, 14 seconds.

Meanwhile, Tennessee went on a 9-0 to stretch its lead to 26-17, the biggest of the game to that point, on a James jumper with 7:15 left in the half. 

Later, Zeigler hit a layup, absorbed the contact and got fouled, going to the line to complete the three-point play and build Tennessee’s lead to 10. He added to it on the next possession with a deep three from the wing. 

After coming up with a steal and drawing a foul, Zeigler made two free throws to put Tennessee up 40-26 with 1:04 left until halftime. 

Nkamhoau scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in the first half, shooting 6-for-9 from the field. Zeigler had eight points and six assists before the break and James scored nine points and added three rebounds. 

Rice led Texas in the first half, scoring 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field.

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee at Florida, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

After two home games this week, Tennessee goes back on the road to face Florida on Wednesday, a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start in Gainesville on ESPN2. The Vols are back home to host Auburn on Saturday, a 2 p.m. ET start at Thompson-Boling Arena, televised by ESPN.

The rest of the February schedule includes road games at Vanderbilt (February 8), at Kentucky (February 18) and at Texas A&M (February 21), along with home games against Missouri (February 11), Alabama (February 15), South Carolina (February 25) and Arkansas (February 28). The regular-season schedule closes at Auburn on March 4.