The Texas Longhorns lost their third NCAA Tournament game in the first round in the Shaka Smart era. The Longhorns came in heavily favored, but couldn’t get out of their own way as they lost to Abilene Christian 53-52.
Texas led at the half, but the biggest thing that Abilene Christian had been able to do this season was deadly to the Horns defeat: turnovers. The Wildcats lead the nation in turnovers forced, and Texas turned it over 23 times.
The Longhorns kept it close all half long, but were down two points with just over 16 seconds to go — Matt Coleman III made a three which gave Texas the lead.
— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) March 21, 2021
After what seemed was the game-winning shot, Coleman would also make the game-deciding mistake. On a rebound attempt, Coleman fouled Joe Pleasant with 1.2 seconds to go. Pleasant came in with a 58.8 free throw percentage, but was having the game of his life.
After making both free throws, Brock Cunningham attempted the in-bound pass, which would be intercepted at mid-court. The game shockingly ended there.
ABILENE CHRISTIAN STUNS TEXAS
MARCH IS AWESOME
pic.twitter.com/4lVukMYQys— Barstool Bench Mob (@stoolbenchmob) March 21, 2021
While the Wildcats move on to round two to take on the UCLA Bruins, the Texas Longhorns will head back to Austin. They won their first Big 12 championship, but once again fell short in the first round.
Scoring Leaders:
Andrew Jones: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists
Joe Pleasant: 11 points, 7 rebounds
Kai Jones: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists