NASHVILLE — Tre Johnson made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:08 left in the second overtime, and 13th-seeded Texas extended its first visit to the Southeastern Conference men’s basketball tournament by beating an old rival, taking down 14th-ranked, fifth-seeded Texas A&M 94-88 on Thursday in the second round of the 16-team bracket.
The event at Bridgestone Arena is bigger than ever because of the offseason addition of former Big 12 programs Oklahoma and Texas, and the Longhorns (19-14) came to Music City needing victories to play their way into the NCAA tournament with the 68-team bracket set to be revealed Sunday night. They will face eighth-ranked, fourth-seeded Tennessee (25-6) in Friday’s second game on day three of the tournament.
The Volunteers, who beat Texas 74-70 on Jan. 11 in Austin during the teams’ lone regular-season meeting this year, had a double bye into the quarterfinals as one of the top four seeds in the SEC bracket.
Johnson finished with 20 points for Texas, Tramon Mark added 15, Kadin Shedrick had 14 and Jordan Pope contributed 13 for the Longhorns, who had split a pair of regular-season meetings with the Aggies (22-10).
Mark’s short jumper hit off the rim just before the buzzer to force overtime and a thrilling finish.