The SEC had a woeful opening-round showing at the NCAA Tournament. Three of the SEC’s 4 teams on Thursday lost their first-round games. Two more lost on Friday. When the second round begins on Saturday, Tennessee will be the only SEC team returning to action.

Though it’s the only game, it promises to be a storyline-filled affair. Rick Barnes is going up against his former team. Max Abmas, the Texas guard who is also the NCAA’s active career scoring leader, goes against one of college basketball’s toughest defenses.

2 Tennessee vs. 7 Texas | 8 p.m. | TNT | Charlotte, North Carolina

Tennessee (25-8) put the clamps down on Saint Peter’s in the first round, holding the Peacocks to 29% shooting from the field in an 83-49 victory. Saint Peter’s trailed by 26 points after the first half. They scored just 20 points in 20 minutes and averaged a paltry 0.645 points per possession. Inside the 3-point line, Tennessee held Saint Peter’s to 3-of-15 shooting from the field. Tennessee also had a 20-4 advantage in the paint, a 25-11 advantage on the boards, and 4 blocked shots over the first 20 minutes.

While others in the SEC struggled to handle overmatched opponents, Saint Peter’s was never given an opportunity to build confidence.

And the offense bounced back after a dud of a performance in the SEC Tournament. The Vols took 24 triples against Saint Peter’s and made 11 of them (46%). Dalton Knecht hit 4 of his 8 attempts from beyond the arc to score a game-high 23 points. Jonas Aidoo added 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

Over in the 7-10 matchup with Colorado State, Texas (21-12) did the same to the Rams. Colorado State managed only 11 points in the first half against the Longhorns. They finished the game shooting just 29% from the field and 25% from 3. They had only 6 free throw attempts. And Texas forced 19 turnovers that led to 17 points.

It was only the second time all season Texas has held an opponent under 50 points. The defense has been fine, but not as suffocating as it was against the Rams.

Instead, the Longhorns have leaned on Abmas and Dylan Disu.

Ambas, a 6-foot guard, spent the first 4 years of his career at Oral Roberts, where he started 123 career games and recorded 2,562 points (20.8 per game), 396 assists (3.2 per game), 409 rebounds (3.3 per game), and 139 steals (1.1 per game) in 4,275 minutes (34.8 per game). He was a 3-time Honorable Mention All-American and a 2-time Summit League Player of the Year.

He’s done more of the same for Texas this season, averaging 17 points and 4.2 assists a game on 43% shooting from the field and 36% from 3.

Disu, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, does a bit of everything. He mans the 5 spot in the Longhorns’ lineup, steps outside to knock down 1.6 3s a game, scores 15.7 a night, and adds 5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks. Foul trouble can be a bit of an issue, though; he averages 5.3 fouls per 40 minutes.

The Vols are 18-15 against the spread this season while Texas is 14-19. Tennessee residents can bet on the game with one of the top Tennessee sportsbooks in the area.

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To help with making predictions in this matchup, here are some advanced metrics from KenPom to consider:

Opponent-adjusted offensive efficiency

  • Tennessee: 117.1 (28th)
  • Texas: 117.2 (27th)

Opponent-adjusted defensive efficiency

  • Tennessee: 90.9 (3rd)
  • Texas: 98.5 (36th)

Opponent-adjusted tempo

  • Tennessee: 69.2 possessions (83rd)
  • Texas: 67.3 possessions (195th)

With that, here are 3 player props for the game:

Tennessee G Zakai Zeigler over 2.5 3-pointers (+110 via DraftKings)

Zeigler only took 6 shots in the win over Saint Peter’s. Five of them were beyond the 3-point line. Over his last 5 games, 73% of Zeigler’s shot attempts have come from 3. And he has had several games during that stretch where he has aggressively sought out his own shot. Minus a 1-for-5 showing against South Carolina, Zeigler has hit at least 3 from deep in 4 of his last 5. Perhaps we get a little back-and-forth action with Abmas on the other side.

Tennessee F Jonas Aidoo over 8.5 rebounds (+110 via DraftKings)

Texas gives up a ton of offensive rebounds, over 10 a game. Aidoo averages 12 boards per 40 minutes.

Texas F Dylan Disu under 20.5 points + rebounds (-115 via FanDuel)

Fouls have been an issue. And with Aidoo, Tennessee should be able to go at Texas inside. Whether it’s necessitated by foul issues or matchup problems, Texas might have to play Kadin Shedrick more than usual.