Less than 12 hours after the first NCAA seed reveal, which featured six  teams in the top 10, the conference against showed its depth as unranked Texas came from behind to knock off No. 15 Kentucky 82-78 in Austin.

The win gives the Longhorns their fourth Quad 1 win of the season and snaps a three-game losing streak, both positives for a group trying to play its way into the NCAA Tournament.

Given the strength of the SEC this season, the conference could realistically tie or set a new record for most teams to receive bids to March Madness; in 2011, the Big East sent 11 teams dancing. has as many as 14 SEC teams flirting with bids.

Kentucky was missing both Lamont Butler (shoulder) and Jaxson Robinson (wrist) because of injuries. Given the Wildcats’ shortened rotation, the loss likely won’t be held against them too much — if at all — when Selection Sunday rolls around. During the seed reveal early Saturday, Kentucky was slotted in as the third seed in the West Region, and No. 10 overall.

All that being said, Kentucky’s turnover inbounding the ball with 42 seconds to play, when the Wildcats were trailing 76-70, is likely to haunt Mark Pope & Co. for awhile.

After Texas guard Jordan Pope snagged the ball, Kentucky was forced to foul to stop the clock. Tre Johnson hit both to give the Longhorns some breathing room, and Texas held on for the win.

It was a back and forth affair all night, with nine ties and seven lead changes. In a mostly even game, the difference proved to be defense: On the possession before the Longhorns’ big steal, Texas rejected its sixth shot of the game, when Kadin Shedrick leapt up to block a put-back attempt by Kentucky’s Amari Williams. The swat ignited UT’s crowd, and set up Johnson for a jumper on the other end.

Johnson finished with a career-high 32 points and nine rebounds for Texas.