Georgia won the first 20 minute half in Texas, but the Longhorns dominated the second half in scoring the 87-67 home victory.

“(Texas) played the same way (in the second half), we were a totally different team, it’s on us,” UGA coach Mike White said. “We came a little disconnected defensively.”

The 20-point margin represented the Bulldogs’ most-lopsided loss of the season and marked the 12th home win for Texas against a ranked opponent in the Moody Center, which is tied for the fourth-most in the nation over the past four seasons.

The No. 21-ranked Bulldogs (16-4, 4-3 SEC) built a 37-30 halftime lead with Somto Cyril scoring 11 of his 12 points through the first 20 minutes against Texas (12-8, 3-4).

But even as Georgia was scoring points and leading, the Longhorns were successful slowing down UGA, which entered the game as the highest scoring team in the nation, averaging 94.8 points per outing.

“We needed to trust our system, and if that means a slower tempo, that’s what we need,” White said “We need to accept there will be certain defenses where we have to adjust to our tempo.

" It’s not about having the fastest tempo, it’s about being the most efficient."

The Bulldogs had scored nine of their first-half points from the free-throw line, and had just 2 fast-break points — this, after leading the nation with an average of 23.95 fast-break points per game.

Texas opened the second half with an 8-0 run to claim a 38-37 lead, shooting red-hot from the field with makes on its first eight shots from the floor.

Blue Cain scored back-to-back baskets to put UGA back on top, 41-38, but the Longhorns’ persisted.

Xavier transfer Dailyn Swain (26 points, 12-of-16 shooting) and Arkansas transfer Tramon Mark (23 points,10-of-16 shooting) proved too much for UGA’s defense to handle.

Mark and Swain scored on back-to-back possessions to key a 7-0 Longhorns run made it 65-54 in favor of the Longhorns with 9:34 left, leading to a Mike White timeout.

Georgia, however, could not get leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson (17 points, 4-of-12 shooting) going or turn the momentum back in its favor.

Texas led by double digits the remainder of the game, its leased swelling to 23 points at on juncture.

The Bulldogs, a projected No. 7 seed in the NCAA tourney entering the Texas contest, return to Athens and will next face Tennessee at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.

Georgia is 11-1 at Stegeman Coliseum this season.

“We’ve looked good at time, and have struggled at times, just like most teams,” White said. “Right now it’s about correcting some of the things we could have done better.

“There will be a lot of similarities (Tuesday against Tennessee) with their physicality and their tempo. Hopefully this game helps us for Tuesday.”

The Longhorns, who had entered the UGA game among the “First Four Out” in Joe Lunardi’s ESPN Bracketology, travel to play at Auburn at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.