Texas might be stuck on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble after an 83-67 home loss to Georgia

AUSTIN, Texas — On a night when the Texas men’s basketball team needed a win to keep its fading NCAA Tournament hopes alive, the Longhorns laid an egg in an 83-67 loss to Georgia at Moody Center on Saturday.

Coach Rodney Terry’s team never led over 40 minutes of the team’s third consecutive loss. The Bulldogs led by as many as 27 points in the second half, shooting 51.8 percent from the field (29-for-56; 8-for-22 from 3-point range) and turning 13 turnovers by Texas (16-13, 5-11 SEC) into 16 points at the other end of the floor.

After losing just five home games in the two seasons since the Longhorns left the Erwin Center for their new digs, the 16-point defeat (the second largest margin endured by Texas at Moody Center) marked the team’s sixth loss on their home floor this season. Just like his club’s forgettable 103-80 loss to Alabama on Feb. 11, the execution and effort put forth by Terry’s bunch on Saturday left a lot to be desired.

The burnt orange faithful had to be disheartened to watch Longhorns suffer a lopsided loss to Georgia (18-11, 6-10) with their postseason fate on the line.

Texas plays its final SEC road game against No. 24 Mississippi State on Tuesday (7 p.m., SEC Network) and wraps up the regular season at home against Oklahoma next Saturday (7 p.m., SEC Network). Unfortunately, Saturday's loss to the Bulldogs means winning both games won’t help the team's March Madness odds.

When Was it Over?: When Georgia went on a 12-2 run in the first half after the Longhorns made it a one-point game, 9-8, with 12:19 on the clock. Devon Pryor’s tip-in with 9:39 left in the half cut the Texas deficit to six points, but that’s as close as Texas got to the lead the rest of the way.

Top Offensive Performer: Shooting 44.2 percent from the field (23-for-52) and only getting 12 points from Tre Johnson (3-for-7 shooting with no official shot attempts in the second half) sums up the Longhorns’ struggles on that end of the floor. Jayson Kent scored 14 points off the bench on 4-for-7 shooting, including a 2-for-3 mark from beyond the arc with five rebounds. Arthur Kaluma scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the second half; he shot 6-for-12 from the field (3-for-8 on 3-pointers), grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and dished out three assists.

Top Defensive Performer: Kaluma had two blocked shots and two steals, but the nod goes to Pryor. The 6-foot-7-inch sophomore finished the night with three steals, a couple of which he took back the other way for transition points. With that said, Georgia guard Silas Demary Jr. led four Bulldogs in double figures with a game-high 26, and forward Asa Newell’s four offensive rebounds (11 total for Georgia) led to 19 second-chance points for coach Mike White’s team (the Bulldogs had a decisive edge in second-chance scoring, 19-6). It was far from an acceptable performance for a program that wants to be known for what it does on defense.

Reason for Optimism: Jordan Pope (10 points on 4-for-9 shooting, 2-for-5 on 3-pointers, three assists and three rebounds) reached double figures in scoring for the first time since an 11-point outing against Vanderbilt on Feb. 8. It wasn’t enough to make up for the loss of Tramon Mark, who missed the game after injuring his back in Wednesday’s 86-81 overtime loss to Arkansas, but Pope scored all of his points in the second half in 20 minutes (17 more than Julian Larry).

Reason for Pessimism: The sense of urgency from the local cagers was left wanting, and that’s putting it mildly. Texas produced a dud when it needed to snap a two-game losing streak in the worst way. Saturday’s loss felt a lot like the 84-69 thumping SEC cellar dweller South Carolina handed the Longhorns in Columbia last Saturday — Texas appeared to be going through the motions, waiting for something to happen rather than being the more aggressive, assertive team on the court from the opening tip.

Modest Proposal: Johnson had a team-high four assists and did his best to find open teammates with the Bulldogs frequently trapping him and making it difficult for him to get loose on screens. Johnson’s unselfish nature and growth playing within a team concept will further boost his stock in the 2025 NBA Draft, even though he's already expected to be a lottery pick. Still, the season will end sooner than the Longhorns want it to if Johnson goes an entire half without officially putting up a shot. It seems to be more of an issue of the coaches doing whatever it takes to get Johnson the ball where he can do something with it rather than the likely SEC Freshman of the Year forcing the issue on offense.

Biggest Question Before the Next Game: Will Texas fight to the death for 40 minutes? The Longhorns could be short-handed in Starkville on Tuesday, especially if Mark isn’t back in the lineup. Regardless, it should be more about pride than anything for Texas because there’s no point in worrying about the NCAA Tournament bubble. That should’ve been enough for the Longhorns to avoid Saturday's lackluster showing.