Texas basketball (15-9, 4-7 SEC) dropped its second consecutive SEC game Saturday with a 80-74 loss at Vanderbilt. The Longhorns now face a critical two-game stretch at home that begins with No. 1 Alabama Tuesday and cont9jnues against No. 18 Kentucky Saturday.
With one win in those two games, Texas would earn another coveted Quad I win and likely crawl back in the top 30 in the NET ratings, a key component used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. But two losses in those two homes games could mean a bounce off the bubble for Texas. Even if this year’s version of the SEC projects as one of the highest-rated conferences in college basketball history, Texas coach Rodney Terry knows his team needs to get a few wins over some of the nation’s best teams to ensure a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had been a part of a league that’s been as ultra-competitive as this league is, where you literally have to coach every game like it’s an NCAA Tournament game,” Terry said. “You can play 30 good minutes in this league — really good basketball at a very, very high level — and you’ve got nothing to show for it at the end of the day.”
It doesn’t get much more competitive than Alabama (20-3, 9-1), No. 1 in the USA Today coaches poll and No. 2 in the Associated Press poll. But the Tide are just part of what’s been a grueling schedule; they’ll be the fourth different opponent this year for Texas that has reached either No. 1 or No. 2 in the AP poll, joining Auburn, Tennessee and Connecticut.
More:Texas men’s basketball: 3 things to watch as Longhorns enter second half of SEC play
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Texas vs Alabama score updates
(This will be updated once the game begins).
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| ALABAMA | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEXAS | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WATCH TEXAS BASKETBALL ALL SEASON LONG
Texas vs Alabama time
Day: Tuesday
Start time: 8 p.m.
Location: Moody Center in Austin
How to watch Texas vs Alabama
TV channel: ESPN
Livestream: Fubo (free trial), ESPN+, SEC+
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