AUSTIN, Texas — Undefeated no more.
The Texas Longhorns ended the winning streak by the No. 10 Vanderbilt Commodores to start the 2025-26 season at 16 games with a convincing 80-64 victory on Wednesday
at the Moody Center led by a game-high 22 points from sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis and 21 points from graduate guard Tramon Mark.
Vokietaitis was an efficient force for Texas, putting the Vanderbilt frontcourt in foul trouble to go 8-of-9 at the free-throw line and 7-of-9 from the field while Mark hit multiple big threes late in the shot clock in the second half, going 4-of-7 overall from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line.
“Mark was very, very good today, and I thought we had some good defense at times and then he was making shots that were against good defense,” Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington said.
Against the nation’s No. 8 team in adjusted defensive efficiency, the Longhorns were able to shoot 52.9 percent, 41.2 percent from three, and 86.4 percent from the line. Im the second half, Texas looked like the elite defensive team, holding Vanderbilt to 26.7-percent shooting, including one made three on 10 attempts as the Horns did better to run shooters off the line and force them to make baskets inside the arc.
With all the missed shots in the second half, the Commodores were able to secure seven offensive rebounds, but the Longhorns won the rebounding battle decisively, 42-28, enabling Texas to finish defensive possessions and play some in the open court, notching an 8-0 advantage in fast-break points.
Texas opened the game making its first four shots, including threes by senior guard Jordan Pope and Mark and a dunk by Vokietaitis late in the shot clock, but Vanderbilt also started hot with 5-of-7 shooting at the first media timeout, led by guard Tyler Tanner, who made his first three shot attempts for seven points as the Commodores took a 13-12 lead into the break.
Pope responded with his third basket when play resumed and the strong offensive showing continued against one of the nation’s best defensive teams as Texas hit eight of its first 11 shot attempts to secure a 22-19 margin at the under-12 timeout as the Longhorns held the Commodores scoreless for more than two minutes amidst a 1-of-6 shooting stretch for the visitors.
During the next stretch of play, Texas opened up its biggest lead of five points on a three by Pope, although two threes by Vanderbilt guard Duke Miles kept the game within two points at the next media timeout.
Too much space afforded Miles resulted in another three by the Oklahoma transfer as Vanderbilt briefly took the lead before Vokietaitis scored with his left hand on an impressive spin move. Texas escaped two clean looks by Tyler Nickel, one of the nation’s best shooters, but Miles was in a strong enough rhythm to make a jumper.
Back-to-back baskets by Swain brought the Moody Center crowd to its feet for the first time and a switch onto Vokietaits forced enough help that junior forward Cam Heide was able to get a clean look on a corner three to extend the lead to 38-30 and force Vanderbilt to spend its first timeout with 2:58 remaining.
The Horns pushed the lead to a game-high 10 points when Swain connected with Vokietaitis for a resounding dunk in transition, a strong finish for the big Lithuanian, who had to navigate some traffic after the catch.
Texas head coach Sean Miller used his own use-it-or-lose-it timeout in frustration after Vanderbilt cut the lead in half with a 5-0 spurt that included Swain giving up too much room to Nickel, who made the Longhorns pay for it from three.
A second-chance effort from Pope in the paint marked a needed basket for Texas on its final offensive possession, but Nickel responded with a rare two-point bucket, only his 25th of the season, to send the game into halftime with the Longhorns up 42-37.
The ability to defend without fouling kept Vanderbilt out of the bonus during the first half as the Commodores went 1-of-4 at the line, although Longhorns graduate forward Lassina Traore did battle foul trouble — the three whistles against him marked half of the fouls called on Texas over the opening 20 minutes.
The second half didn’t start well for the Horns, committing a foul and allowing two offensive rebounds before getting a stop, giving the ball away on the other end, and giving up a three-point play when Pope fouled Miles taking a jump shot.
After the teams traded baskets, including a dunk by Swain, Mark hit a corner three to beat the buzzer and Vokietaitis drew a shooting foul, splitting his trip to the line. Taking advantage of a switch, Vokietaitis got to the line again, hitting both free throws.
At the under-16 timeout, with the Horns maintaining the five-point lead from halftime, Miller had a long discussion with the officials when Vokietaitis was called for an offensive foul driving against Tanner, who is a foot shorter.
Sloppy basketball by Texas offensively caused Miller to use a timeout with 12:38 remaining and the lead at four points thanks to five turnovers in less than eight minutes of play.
After the timeout, Swain bailed out an unproductive possession with a fadeaway jumper to beat the shot clock, but then forced a bad shot in transition pushing the pace when he secured a defensive rebound.
Mark extended the lead back to seven points with a three with 10:52 remaining before Vanderbilt got into the bonus with more than 10 minutes left, a reversal of the Texas fouling trend from the first half. Another three by Mark ignited the home crowd as the Longhorns managed to maintain some important separation from the Commodores.
However, Vokietaitis was called for his third foul battling for post position right before Texas forced a turnover to send the game into the under-eight timeout with the lead at nine points.
A finish by senior guard Chendall Weaver in transition and two subsequent free throws earned by hustling for an offensive rebound extended the lead to 12 points with 6:27 remaining, pushing the win probability for Texas to 96.7 percent.
Effective defense forced a shot-clock violation by the Commodores and a loose-ball foul on Vanderbilt center Jalen Washington resulted in his disqualification and a trip to the line for Mark, who hit both. When Miles hit an off-balance shot trying to draw a foul, Mark Byington called a timeout at the 5:09 mark with the Commodores trailing by 12 points.
Swain missed a chance to extend that lead when he missed the front end of a one-and-one, but a return trip to the line was more productive in hitting both and Texas kept up its intensity after the under-four timeout when back-to-back dunks by Vokietaitis gave the Horns a 20-point lead and ensured that the Dores wouldn’t be able to make a late comeback attempt.
With back-to-back wins over top-25 opponents, Texas remains in Austin for a rivalry game against Texas A&M on Saturday with the first real momentum of the Sean Miller era.
