Timmy Allen hit the game-winning free throw with 6.2 seconds left and Courtney Ramey scored a season-high 18 points as host Texas held on to beat No. 18 Tennessee 52-51 on Saturday in a wild Big 12/SEC Challenge game in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (16-5) forged a 15-0 run over a seven-minute stretch that began late in the first half to erase a two-point deficit.
Tennessee trailed by 17 points with 7:57 to play but clawed back to tie the game at 51 on Victor Bailey Jr.’s layup with 1:23 left, capping a 16-0 run for the Volunteers.
After a pair of missed free throws by Ramey and back-to-back missed shots by Tennessee, Allen hit one of two free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining. The Volunteers called timeout and set up a final play for Josiah-Jordan James, but his 3-point attempt missed at the buzzer.
Allen scored nine points for the Longhorns, who improved to 16-0 this season when holding their opponents below 60 points and won their third straight game.
Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and James scored 11 for Tennessee (14-6), which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, with the game tied at 14 after a 3-pointer by Texas’ Andrew Jones with 6:15 to play until halftime.
Texas scored the final five points of the half, with Ramey hitting two free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining, and took a 27-25 advantage at the break.
Ramey and Jones led Longhorns with seven points each at the half, with Kennedy Chandler and Olivier Nkamhoua pacing Tennessee with six points each.
Texas started the second half with 10 straight points to build its lead to 37-25 as Allen hit a bucket and a three-point play in the spurt. The Volunteers didn’t score for the first 5:20 of the half.
The game was the first return to Austin for Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, who coached the Longhorns for 17 seasons ending with his firing in 2015. Barnes was hired by Volunteers two days later and has been in Knoxville for seven seasons.
–Field Level Media
