CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Tennessee basketball and Texas are battling for a spot in the Sweet 16.
The No. 2 Vols (25-8) will play the No. 7 Longhorns (21-12) Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS at Spectrum Center.
Texas defeated No. 10 Colorado State 56-44 on Thursday, then the Vols defeated No. 15 St. Peter's 83-49.
Vols coach Rick Barnes coached at Texas for 17 seasons from 1997 to 2015. He was 402-180. He won the Big 12 regular season title his third time and led the Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament his 16th time. He led Texas to the Final Four in 2003.
How Tennessee basketball progressed in the NCAA Tournament
Dalton Knecht had 23 points and a team-high eight rebounds against the Vols (25-8) and St. Peter's (19-14). Zakai Zeigler had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists. Jonas Aidoo had 15 points and six rebounds.
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The Vols never trailed for much of the second half, trailing by more than 30 points.
Tennessee Basketball and Texas are playing for the third straight season
Tennessee faced Texas the past two seasons as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, which ended with the 2023 season.
The Vols lost the first game 52-51 on January 29, 2022 in Austin, Texas. The teams had a rematch a year later in Knoxville, with the Vols winning 82-71.
UT has a 4-4 record against Texas.
Mike Wilson covers the University of Tennessee athletics department. Email michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow us on Twitter @.Posted by Mike Wilson. If you like Mike's coverage, please consider a digital subscription to him for access to all of his content.
