Texas 80, No. 10 Vanderbilt 64: Postgame press conference after a second ranked win in a row

[Jeff Howe]

Texas led No. 10 Vanderbilt for almost 35 minutes in Wednesday's 80-64 upset of the previously-undefeated Commodores at Moody Center. The Longhorns took a 42-37 lead into halftime and, along with Tramon Mark scoring 16 of his 21 points in the second half, Matas Vokietaitis spearheaded a 13-for-16 effort from the foul line to help Texas (11-6, 2-2 SEC) open things up in the second half en route to its second consecutive ranked win.

The Longhorns built on Saturday's 92-88 road win over then-No. 13 Alabama with a hellacious defensive effort in the second half. Vanderbilt (16-1, 3-1) went 8-for-30 from the field after halftime, including a 1-for-10 performance from beyond the arc.

[Jeff Howe]

"We were there, we played good defense, he just made the shot," Byington said of Tramon Mark, who scored 21 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-7 from beyond the arc.

[Jeff Howe]

Byington said Texas didn't do anything different defensively in the second half. Vanderbilt just missed shots, he said.

[Jeff Howe]

To Byington's point, the Commodores were 8-for-30 from the field in the second half, including 1-for-10 on 3-pointers.

[Jeff Howe]

Byington said Texas forced Vanderbilt to settle for a lot of mid-range shots and the Commodores didn't make them.

[Jeff Howe]

Byington on Texas: "They've had moments where they've played like this."

[Jeff Howe]

Byington said Matas is on his way to becoming a really good player.

Matas had a game-high 22 points (7-9 FG, 8-9 FT) along with seven rebounds.

[Jeff Howe]

Byington: "SEC games feel like this. It's difficult on both ends... I thought we could dig in there a little bit and put pressure on them, but they made the plays the last eight minutes of the game."

[Jeff Howe]

We're waiting on Sean Miller and the Texas players.

[Jeff Howe]

Matas, Dailyn Swain and Tramon Mark are meeting with the media in the press conference.

[Jeff Howe]

Mark felt like Texas made an effort to run Vanderbilt off the 3-point line in the second half. Swain said Mark challenged him to not allow any easy baskets in the second half and not let Tyler Nickel get any clean looks at the rim.

[Jeff Howe]

The team practices hard, Mark said. They need to do a better job of carrying it over from practice to the games.

[Jeff Howe]

Mark on what the win says about this Texas team: "Don't give up on us."

[Jeff Howe]

Swain said the Longhorns must do the same thing they did after the Alabama game: enjoy it, but turn the page quickly and get ready for a good Texas A&M team coming into Moody Center on Saturday.

[Jeff Howe]

"The more we can do that, the more games we'll win." — Mark on how continuing to pressure the ball and be aggressive on defense will lead to the Longhorns playing their best basketball

[Jeff Howe]

Mark on why he's at his best in SEC play: "I just love the competition. It's the best league in college basketball. I love the competition and I love winning."

[Jeff Howe]

I'll have his full opening statement up as soon as I can after the press conference ends.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said the staff has done a better job of putting Tramon Mark in a position where he can succeed. Mark's consistency is one of things Miller said that can make the difference for Texas in SEC play.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "The more that we're together, I think, the more we learn."

[Jeff Howe]

In times of struggle, Miller said you have to own it. That means everybody coming together and working together to find solutions to problems.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "We're a better team. We're far from perfect, we can do things better and we'd better keep moving in that direction."

[Jeff Howe]

Learning from failure and learning from missed opportunities has been a big part of this team's journey early on, Miller said. Through that growth, he said, Texas is a better team than it was early in the season.

[Jeff Howe]

As good as Matas was tonight, his ability to run the floor and make plays in transition really stick out to Miller.

"Matas is becoming a better player," he said. "He's improving."

[Jeff Howe]

Chendall Weaver "embodies a winning player," Miller said.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said Tramon Mark's experiences have earned him the right to have a voice in the locker room. The team really respects him, Miller said.