Tramon Mark ignites a second-half surge, powering Texas past rivals Texas A&M and snapping a two-game skid with a crucial Quadrant One victory.
Texas men's basketball picked up a much-needed win on Saturday, beating rivals Texas A&M 76-70 in College Station.
The Longhorns were coming off two straight losses to Georgia and Florida, moving them back on the bubble, according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi.
Their victory against A&M falls under the Quadrant One category, giving the horns a bit more breathing room in the bracket heading into the final week of Southeastern Conference play.
Texas took a quick 7-1 lead a few minutes into the contest, but its two leading scorers, guard Dailyn Swain and center Matas Vokietaitis, would both pick up two early fouls, limiting their availability for the rest of the first half.
The rest of the first half was an ugly affair for both squads.
The Longhorns struggled with the Aggies' high-pressure defense, turning the ball over eight times. Combine that with a poor 36.7% shooting percentage, and Texas was only able to put up 29 points going into halftime.
However, the Longhorns were able to hold their own on the defensive end, limiting A&M to 30 points in the first half.
That would prove vital as Texas tried to close out the affair in the final 20 minutes.
The Longhorns opened the second half on a 15-6 run, putting them up 44-36 with just under 14 minutes left in the game.
And they never looked back from there, thanks to their veteran guard Tramon Mark.
Some have dubbed Mark as "The Aggie Killer," and he showed exactly why on Saturday afternoon.
The graduate guard finished the game with 23 points on 7-13 shooting, adding 4 rebounds and two assists to his stat line.
17 of his points came in the second half, where he went 5-6 from the field and made all six of his free throws.
Swain has been Texas' go-to guy to close games this season, but Mark just has a thing for taking down the Aggies.
"I really think of it as another game," Mark said after the win. "I don't like the color maroon, just a lot of things get going (once the game starts)."
And it wasn't just Mark who was money from the charity stripe, the entire squad went 15-16 from the line, helping the Longhorns ice the contest in its latter stages.
Now, Texas has two massive games against Arkansas and Oklahoma to close out the regular season before traveling to Nashville for the SEC tournament.
Their ticket is not punched quite yet, but Saturday's win was a big step towards the Longhorns going back to the NCAA Tournament.