ATLANTA — It still may qualify as the most stunning score of the college basketball season: Tennessee 95, Texas 78, in Austin.

That was on Dec. 17, when it was a given that Texas was really good but nobody had a clue what Tennessee might be up to.

The Vols turned out all right, of course, and they got a ton of mileage out of that December shocker, right up through the NCAA tournament seeding process.

Although they didn’t realize it while Tennessee was running them off their court, the Longhorns would also derive considerable benefit from the rout.

A basketball season is a sixth-month journey. Peaks and valleys are as inevitable as Dick Vitale touting at least 125 teams that deserve to be in the final bracket.

Today, Texas’ journey arrives at the Georgia Dome to play LSU for the right to advance to the Final Four next week in Indianapolis.

Without some soul-searching coming out of the Tennessee-administered debacle, the Horns would be home in Austin watching on TV.

As it is, however, on the next-to-last weekend of the season, Texas is still climbing toward its peak. Its valley?

That’s easy — an eight-day span in December when it ascended to No. 2 in the polls only to got embarrassed twice, first by Duke, 97-66, in East Rutherford, N.J., then at home by a Tennessee team that was at that point considered a lightweight.

"The biggest thing,’’ forward P.J. Tucker said Friday, "was that the whole staff and team knew that we didn’t play Texas basketball.

"That wasn’t even us those two games.’’

In a literal sense, it wasn’t them. Not all of them, at least.

Forward Brad Buckman missed the Tennessee game due to an injury. Guard Daniel Gibson, already suffering from a concussion, played only nine minutes before he banged his head on the floor.

To be honest, though, the Vols were in such a zone that day it might not have mattered if Kobe Bryant had been in a Texas uniform.

"Obviously, Tennessee was a lot better than everybody thought,’’ coach Rick Barnes said. "They played great and we were struggling.’’

After the final horn sounded and Tennessee flew home to Knoxville full of renewed confidence, the Longhorns were still struggling.

"We tried desperately to figure out what we were doing wrong,’’ said Kenton Paulino, hero of the 74-71 win over West Virginia here Thursday night.

"It’s one thing if you know you’re playing how you’re capable of playing and still lose by that much. But we knew we played nowhere near where we’re capable of playing.’’

Time to look in the mirror.

"Everyone was trying to pass, we weren’t looking to score,’’ said center LaMarcus Aldridge, "and we weren’t playing Texas defense.’’

The Longhorns responded by winning 14 of their next 15 games, one of them over No. 4-ranked Memphis, another over No. 3 Villanova.

"A lot of teams would have folded and second-guessed themselves after stuff like that,’’ said Buckman. "We pushed forward.’’

They defined their roles. They matured. And they got back to playing Texas defense.

After getting torched for a combined 192 points by Duke and Tennessee, the Longhorns buckled down and have shaved their season defensive average to 60.0.

"I guess you could say it was a turning point,’’ Aldridge said.

"Ever since then,’’ added Tucker, "we have been working at it, trying to play that perfect game.’’

On Dec. 17, it was Tennessee that played the perfect game.

In hindsight, it was a good day for both teams.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.