Texas Longhorns Hang Tough With UConn Huskies, Fall to 4-1
Surrounded by the bright lights of New York City, the Texas Longhorns had to quickly put Sunday's emotional last-second win over Louisville behind them and prepare to face the defending national champion UConn Huskies in the final of the Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden.
In their toughest game so far this season, the Longhorns scraped and clawed their way back from a 16-point deficit and outscored UConn in the second half, but were ultimately unable to slow down forward Alex Karaban, who made big shots down the stretch and finished with 20 points to lead the No. 5 Huskies over No. 15 Texas, 81-71.
The Longhorns trailed 71-67 with 5:24 to play, but went cold in the final few minutes. Texas never led in the game, but had just six turnovers, a problem that plauged them in the first three games of the season.
Right before tip-off, it was announced that Texas forward Kadin Shedrick, who had a game-high 27 points in the win over Louisville, would be out for precautionary reasons as he continues to recover from surgery on both shoulders.
This left the Longhorns (4-1) with a major hole in the frontcourt against a talented UConn (5-0) team, but forward Dillon Mitchell responded with a career-high 21 points to go along with eight rebounds to lead Texas.
Tyrese Hunter helped power the Longhorns second-half surge before finishing with 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Max Abmas added 10 points while Ithiel Horton had 11 points off the bench.
Connecticut Huskies guard Tristen Newton (2) drives to the basket as Texas Longhorns guard Tyrese Hunter (4) defends during the first half of the Empire Classic championship game at Madison Square Garden.
© Vincent Carchietta, USA TODAY
UConn got a big game from center Samson Johnson (15 points, seven rebounds), while guard Cam Spencer had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Huskies jumped out to a quick 27-11 lead behind a 13-2 run, but the Longhorns didn't let things get out of hand thanks to Mitchell, who had 11 of Texas' first 19 points.
Without Shedrick and with Dylan Disu, the Longhorns had a tough time dealing with Johnson and rim protection on defense.
Texas trailed 46-33 at the half, but came out of the locker room and quickly cut the deficit to single digits at 56-50 thanks to a pair of triples from Abmas. This hardly phased the Huskies, as they responded with an eventual 9-1 run to build the lead back up to 69-55 with nine minutes to play.
The Longhorns weren't done and answered with a 12-2 run to cut it to 71-67. It seemed like Texas would be headed for another exciting finish, but UConn ended the game on a 10-4 run to secure the win.
The Longhorns will head back to Texas before hosting the Wyoming Cowboys on Sunday.
