Matas Vokietaitis scored 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and Texas’ defense did the rest in a stunning 80-64 upset of previously undefeated No. 10 Vanderbilt on Wednesday in a Southeastern Conference dustup in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (11-6, 2-2 SEC) led by 10 late in the first half, by five at halftime and by eight after a Tramon Mark free throw with 14:11 remaining. Chendall Weaver’s driving layup with 7:06 to play stoked Texas’ advantage to 68-57 and had the home team in position for the upset win.
Vanderbilt (16-1, 3-1) went 3:44 without a field goal during that pivotal stretch and never made a run through the final stretch. The Commodores were seeking a program-record 17-0 start to the season, having matched the 16-0 start set by the 2007-08 team.
The Longhorns expanded their advantage to 20 on a high-flying breakaway dunk by Vokietaitis with three minutes to play and cruised to the finish line, beating their second ranked opponent in a period of five days.
Mark added 21 points for the Longhorns, with Dailyn Swain posting 14 points, nine boards and seven assists and Jordan Pope hitting for 12 points.
Duke Miles led the Commodores with 21 points while Tyler Tanner had 17 and Tyler Nickel scored 10 for Vanderbilt, which shot just 26.7% from the floor in the second half and 36.7% overall.
The Longhorns led by as many as three over the first eight minutes, the latest on a layup by Lassina Traore, before Vanderbilt rallied to tie the game at 22-all when Duke Miles poured in a 3-pointer near the midway mark of the first half.
Texas reeled off the ensuing five points on a jumper by Mark and a 3-pointer from Pope. Vanderbilt swung back with a 6-0 run punctuated by Miles’ 3-pointer with 7:10 left in the half to go up 28-27 before the Longhorns produced 13 of the next 15 points to take a 40-30 advantage with 2:31 to play until halftime.
Vanderbilt finished the half with a 7-2 surge, with Nickel’s jumper at the buzzer bringing the Commodores to within 42-37 at the break. It was the first time this season that Vanderbilt trailed at halftime.
Vokietaitis and Pope paced the Longhorns with 12 points apiece before the break. Miles led all scorers with 14 points while Tanner hit for 10 over the first 20 minutes of play.
–Field Level Media
