By Chris Low, The Tennessean - Dec 17, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas — The ides of Texas shook, rattled and eventually blew harmlessly away Saturday. Left standing in the wake was a surging Tennessee men's basketball team, which used some red-hot three-point shooting and stifling defense to run away with a 95-78 victory over the seventh-ranked Longhorns before a crowd of 9,235 at the Erwin Center.
"We came out with a lot of confidence, a lot of swagger and jumped on them from the get-go," said senior point guard C.J. Watson, a member of the Tennessee team last season that lost by 25 points to Texas in the Maui Invitational.
"It's a big statement for everybody. We're coming to play no matter who it is."
It was Tennessee's first victory over a Top-10 team on the road since defeating ninth-ranked Florida 81-79 in double overtime on Jan. 18, 2000.
The Vols (6-0) led by 20 points at the half, by 25 midway through the second half and held a 79-56 lead with 6:04 to play.
But saddled with serious foul trouble, Tennessee had to hold off a frantic Texas rally. The Longhorns pulled within 11 points, but that's as close as they would get as the Vols hit 12 straight free throws in the final two minutes.
Sophomore Chris Lofton led five different Vols in double figures with 21 points. He was 5-of-9 from three-point range. As a team, Tennessee was 12-of-24 from three-point range. Sophomore JaJuan Smith came off the bench to score 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.
"These guys really stepped up," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. "They played with confidence and played with poise. They played great basketball in the first half and played smart in the second half."
Texas (8-2) was coming off a 31-point loss to No. 1-ranked Duke last weekend. The Vols forced the Longhorns into 22 turnovers and outscored them 34-11 on points off turnovers.
Texas played most of the game without sophomore point guard Daniel Gibson, who suffered a concussion midway through the first half. Also, Texas senior forward Brad Buckman missed the game with a strained calf
