PACKING UP EARLY
Longhorns’ season-high 23 turnovers help Wildcats secure first-round stunner.
It felt like Abilene Christian was cheating, as if coach Joe Golding somehow convinced officials to let him play seven-on-five against Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Purple jerseys swarmed across the court, drawing charges, poking away passes and rushing Texas into impatient shots. The thirdseeded Longhorns looked downright claustrophobic at times against No. 11 seed Abilene Christian’s suffocating pressure.
In a stunning madcap of a game Saturday night, the Longhorns lost to Abilene Christian 53-52 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The outcome secured Abilene Christian’s first NCAA Tournament win and marked Texas’ fourth straight first-round exit — it has not won in the NCAA Tournament since 2014.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Texas senior Matt Coleman said. “It just feels like a bad dream. Haven’t woke up yet.”
The Wildcats (24-4) buzzed around in their rotations, cutting off Texas (19-8) drives and sending constant pressure toward low-post threat Jericho Sims.
Though the Texas big man opened the game with two dunks in three minutes, he didn’t record another field goal attempt for nearly 20 minutes. Sims finished with 10 just points on 3-for-3 shooting.
And when senior guard Matt Coleman went to the bench with two early fouls, the Texas offense went dormant. The Longhorns’ early 10-4 lead flipped into a 23-22 deficit as Abilene Christian used live-ball turnovers and offensive rebounds to account for a lack of halfcourt offense.
“I don’t think our guys overlooked ACU,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “I do think that we got into the game, (and) there was some nerves early. We didn’t respond with the poise that we typically need to respond with.”
Even Coleman’s return following an eight-minute absence didn’t spur Texas to a game-opening run. The Longhorns amped up their own defensive pressure to hold the Wildcats scoreless over the final 7:13 — Abilene Christian missed 12 straight shots — and sophomore Kai Jones sprung free for a layup and dunk to regain a thin 2823 lead at halftime.
What Texas really needed was for its backcourt trio of Coleman, redshirt junior Andrew Jones and junior Courtney Ramey to settle in and soothe this veteran group at halftime. But Abilene Christian, the smallest team in the tournament field, never looked intimidated by anything Smart and Texas threw its way, whether it was bigger lineups featuring Kai Jones and Sims or floor-spacing lineups with senior shooting guard Jase Febres.
Jones Euro-stepped through a web of defenders for a scoop layup and hit another soft shot in the paint to push Texas’ lead to 32-23 just 50 seconds into the second half. Abilene Christian shrugged that off and responded with a 18-4 run to take a 41-36 lead.
“They made some really, really tough shots,” Smart said. “They banked in a few shots late in the clock. The best teams find a way to get beyond that, and I kind of feel like a couple times they’ve taken the wind out of our sail. But that being said, the guys kept fighting.”
The Longhorns shot a respectable 45 percent from the field. The problem was in creating looks, especially around the perimeter.
Texas hit just seven 3s and committed a seasonhigh 23 turnovers. Abilene Christian capitalized on those errors with 23 points. And despite the Wildcats’ diminutive roster, they won the rebounding battle 36-31 and scored 12 secondchance points off 18 offensive rebounds.
And the Ramey-Coleman-Jones trio kept sputtering against the constant traps and bumps and waves of Wildcats coming their way. Those three combined for just 25 points on 9-for-26 shooting, nine assists and 15 turnovers.
“They’re in the tournament for reason,” Coleman said. “I expected to get their best shot. And the ball didn’t fall in our favor today.”
Throw some credit to redshirt sophomore swingman Brock Cunningham for providing a late spark. Following a jumper by Andrew Jones, the rugged Cunningham recorded two straight blocks and snagged a defensive rebound. That led to a go-ahead step-back 3 by Coleman off a quick push by Andrew Jones.
Abilene Christian answered immediately. Guard Coryon Mason (11 points) flicked in a layup, then guard Damien Daniels finished a three-point play to put the Wildcats ahead 5047 with 3:42 remaining.
Texas had plenty of opportunities to win or force overtime. It just kept whiffing.
Coleman’s open corner 3 caromed off iron. Andrew Jones’ layup popped off the rim. Ramey’s contested 15footer bounced high, but unlike so many of the Wildcats’ shots Saturday night, this ricochet wasn’t friendly.
But then Andrew Jones, the leukemia survivor, appeared to provide a heaping does of March magic. Following an Abilene Christian turnover, Coleman found Jones on the right wing. He was all alone.
Jones’ shot caressed the net with 13.2 seconds remaining to give Texas a 52-51 lead. But the Longhorns couldn’t get one more rebound, one more stop.
Kai Jones blocked Daniels’ wild layup attempt, but Abilene Christian forward Joe Pleasant drew a foul battling for the offensive rebound. The 59 percent freethrow shooter hit both of his attempts, and Texas’ lastditch effort fell short at the buzzer.
“Lot of tears in the locker room right now,” Smart said. “A lot of guys extremely upset about the way the game ended and the fact that, you know, we have to go home now. Really disappointed. Everybody is.”