'Fearless' Freshman Tre Johnson Continues to Wow SEC Coaches

AUSTIN -- Tre Johnson is seemingly doing everything he can to will the Texas Longhorns back to the NCAA Tournament, though the freshman's best efforts still might not be enough to right his team's recent wrongs.

Johnson scored a career-high 39 points in Wednesday's 86-81 overtime loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks, breaking Kevin Durant's single-game freshman scoring record in the process. Johnson now has three regular-season games left to try and carry Texas to March Madness, starting with Saturday night's tilt against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Moody Center.

Georgia head coach Mike White had some major praise for Johnson, the SEC's leading scorer, while meeting with the media in Athens this week.

“He's an elite shooter, playmaker, athlete, strength, and he's 6'6". He's not 6'2"," White said of Johnson. "He's just a really good player. He can catch and shoot it, he can sprint into shots, going left, going right, create his own shot, going left, going right. They run a lot of actions for him, so they put a lot of pressure on the defense. They set good screens for him. They've got pretty good passers, too, that find them. He's fearless, he's got a quick high release, and a beautiful stroke.”

Georgia center RJ Godfrey echoed these words and admitted he "can't wait" to play against Johnson on Saturday.

“Yeah, watching the game last night, that was the second time I watched him this year," Godfrey said. "I watched him against Kentucky. He's really talented. His shot making ability is off the charts. And he's long, six-six, can really shoot over people and really penetrate the paint really good. So we got to show him bodies and really just play physical. I mean, physical him up. So he's a good player. I can't wait to get out there and play against him.”

Texas and Georgia will tip-off from Austin at 7 p.m. CT.

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