Texas Surge Past Vanderbilt in First-Round Clash of SEC Tournament

The Texas Longhorns picked up a monumental win over the Vanderbilt Commodores in the First Round of the 2024-25 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament. For a team going in with very little expectations and virtually needing to win this tourney in order to claim an NCAA Tournament bid, this was exactly the type of victory that Rodney Terry and his squad needed. 

The Longhorns led for a majority of the game and were barely even threatened in the second half. Four Longhorns eclipsed the double-digit scoring mark, with Tramon Mark and Tre Johnson leading the way with 19 points apiece.

Looking at the stat sheet, neither team really separated themselves in any major statistical categories; Both teams each had 31 rebounds and the Commodores only committed one more turnover than the Longhorns. However, the Longhorns converted on a couple more free throw attempts and narrowly edged out the Commodores at the charity stripe.

The Commodores were eventually able to get some things going on the offensive end, but the Longhorns' lead had proven to be enough to overcome. The Commodores led for just three minutes of the game (17:51-14:44 mark of the first half) and weren't even within striking distance until the final minutes of the game.

Mark Byington has done a tremendous with his group in his first year, getting them to 20-win mark and scoring some impressive wins on their resume over elite opponents. 

The Longhorns' victory over them should not go overlooked as it will jolt a ton of confidence into a team desperately seeking a spark. We see teams get hot and come out of nowhere all the time. Maybe the Longhorns have some magic in store for the college basketball world.