Texas falls on the road at Vanderbilt, 86-78

In a game with multiple scoring runs by both Texas and Vanderbilt, the Commodores’ last and largest effort proved to be the winning one.

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Vanderbilt took a 66-65 lead with 5:40 remaining, the bucket by Jason Edwards part of a 5-0 run that put the Commodores on top for good. From that 5:40 mark on, Vanderbilt outscored Texas 20-13, with most of the Longhorns’ points the result creating possessions off of Vanderbilt’s converted opportunities at the free throw line. The Commodores hit their charity stripe chances and cruised to an eight-point, 86-78 win on their home floor.

Edwards and Tyler Nickel poured in 17 points for the Commodores, but Vandy was lead in scoring by Jaylen Carey. Carey posted 18 points and 14 rebounds, dominating the paint. Nine of his boards were of the offensive variety, and Texas center Kadin Shedrick‘s foul issues and often his own lacking defense left the Longhorns without an answer inside the lane.

Texas had five players in double figures. Tre Johnson led Texas with 15 points while adding five rebounds and five assists. Arthur Kaluma posted 12 points and seven rebounds along with four assists. Shedrick, who was listed as questionable on Friday night with back problems, posted 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Julian Larry and Jordan Pope each scored 11 points.

Devon Pryor had nine points and Jayson Kent had eight points to put the Longhorns at their 78 point total.

The Longhorns trailed 77-71 with 90 seconds remaining. Texas took possession with 1:15 left after a shot clock violation. A good offensive look for Kaluma from three hit the iron, and the Longhorns were forced to foul an 85% free throw shooter in Nickel, who made 1-of-2 with 45 seconds remaining to make it 78-71. Kaluma took and missed another contested layup, Vanderbilt found MJ Collins on an outlet pass allowed by poor defensive hustle, and scored an 80th point that made it a nine point game. The Longhorns’ efforts in the waning moments fell short and Texas fell to 4-7 in SEC play.

Texas jumped to leads of 54-44, 61-56, and 65-61 at different junctures in the second half, but could not maintain them.

The Longhorns started the second half strong, going on a 10-0 run with strong plays from Shedrick and Pryor, and capped by a Larry jumper just before the expiration of the shot clock. But Vanderbilt responded with a 7-2 run to make it a one possession game, 56-53 Texas, at the under-12.

A 15-2 run to close the first half put the Longhorns on top at the break. Vanderbilt led by as many as nine at the midway point of the half, mostly thanks to a strong stretch of plays from Carey and a scorching shooting streak from Nickel. But after the Commodores took a nine-point lead at the 6:45 mark, the Longhorns took control of the game before halftime. Texas scored 12 straight points, including five from Johnson, a jumper from Kent, a three-pointer just before a shot clock violation from Larry, and two free throws from Kaluma. Texas’ smart defense forced Vanderbilt to go 1-for-12 from the field over the course of the end of the half.

Texas jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Commodores made a comeback to make the game competitive. Once that happened, Carey took over. He scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds over the first 8:14 of the game, often out-hustling Texas and earning quality second chance opportunities. The Longhorns would make a critical adjustment, switching Kaluma onto Carey when Carey would set screens. The move was effective, as Carey didn’t score again in the remainder of the half and pulled down just two more rebounds. However, he found his rhythm in the second half to finish as the leading scorer.

Texas was once again without the services of Chendall Weaver (hip), but Tramon Mark (right shoulder) joined him on the inactive list. Larry earned his first career start in burnt orange as a result and was a quality player in Mark’s stead.

The game goes down as a Quadrant 1 loss for the Longhorns, making Texas’ record to 3-7 in Quadrant 1 games. Texas is currently 3-2 in Quadrant 2 games, and a combined 9-0 in Quadrant 3 and Quadrant 4 contest.

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Texas welcomes No. 3 Alabama for a Tuesday night matchup on ESPN at 8 p.m.