AUSTIN (KXAN) — When Tennessee and Texas meet at 7 p.m. CT Saturday in the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, they’ll have a lot more in common than just initials and the color orange.
Tennessee, seeded No. 2 in the Midwest Region, is coached by someone that Texas is extremely familiar with — former head coach Rick Barnes. He led the Longhorns to 16 March Madness appearances in 17 seasons from 1998-2015, racking up 582 wins for the Longhorns with a Final Four berth in 2003. One of his top assistants for a good portion of that run, from 2002-11, was current Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry.
When Terry took over as head coach of the Longhorns, he lauded Barnes as a friend, mentor and someone he holds in the highest regard. Terry landed his first head coaching job at Fresno State following his stint with Barnes, but when the two clash, it’s not friendly for 40 minutes.
“We know when the game starts, he’s super competitive and so are we,” Terry said. “We both want to win at an incredible level.”
Barnes said, “There won’t be any secrets,” when the game tips off.
“I kind of knew when our number came up, would it be Clemson or Texas?” he said. Barnes was a head coach for four seasons at Clemson before he took the job at Texas. “I don’t know if they do that intentionally, but it’s always tough playing people that you know. We’ve been around each other and there are guys on his staff that have been a big part of my career.”
Current Texas assistant Frank Haith and general manager Chris Ogden also coached under Barnes during his tenure with the Longhorns. Ogden played for Barnes at Texas from 1999 to 2003.
The two orange UT schools are 4-4 against each other all-time with the Volunteers winning the last matchup 82-71 on Jan. 28, 2023, in Knoxville. Texas beat the Vols 52-51 in Austin the previous year in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge, but, before that, they hadn’t played each other in 15 years. This is the third time in three seasons the programs will play each other.
The Vols boast their national player of the year candidate in Dalton Knecht who averages 21.2 points per game and is one of the most electrifying players in the country. If the Longhorns can somehow slow him down, that will go a long way in pulling off the upset. Tennessee finished the regular season with a 25-8 record overall and a 14-4 mark in the Southeastern Conference. While they lost their final regular season game to Kentucky, Knecht went off for 40 points on 14 of 29 shooting.
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Tennessee blasted 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s 83-49 in the opening round with Knecht scoring 23 points with eight rebounds. Jonas Aidoo chipped in 15 points while Zakai Zeigler had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.
Texas, meanwhile, is coming off a grindfest against Colorado State. The Longhorns beat the Rams 56-44 in the first round but didn’t exactly look great doing it. Terry knows his guys have to play better to beat his friend’s team.
“They’re going to be very physical and rely on paint touches, playing inside and out,” he said. “They’re going to sit down and play defense, guard really hard and limit you to one shot and out.”
The game is at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will be broadcast on CBS.