No. 10 Texas drops Big 12/SEC battle to No. 4 Tennessee

Rick Barnes and No. 4 Tennessee got the better of No. 10 Texas on Saturday night in its Big 12/SEC challenge matchup. The Vols controlled the game from start to finish, cruising to an 82-71 victory.

A first-half scoring drought of nearly seven minutes put Texas in a hole early on. Tennessee’s top-ranked defense held Texas’ leading scorer Marcus Carr to just 11 points on the night.

Rebounding was the story of the game as Tennessee dominated the boards, outrebounding Texas 38-24. The Horns’ defense had no answers for Tennessee’s Olivier Nkamhoua and Zakai Zeigler. Both Vols scored over 20 points in the win.

Sir’Jabari Rice led the way for Texas with a solid 21-point effort. Four of five Texas starters were held under 10 points for the first time all season.

Texas falls to 17-4 on the season with a difficult Big 12 stretch on the horizon. The Longhorns host red-hot Baylor on Monday night with massive implications in the conference standings on the line.

Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes and opinions.

Story originally appeared on Longhorns Wire