The No. 3 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament, the Texas Longhorns get their portion of March Madness started by facing No. 14 seed Abilene Christian in the final tipoff of the first round of the tournament on Lucas Oil Stadium’s Unity Court in Indianapolis on Saturday (9:13 p.m., TNT and truTV). For head coach Shaka Smart, his third NCAA Tournament game will hopefully be the charm as he looks for his first March Madness victory on the Forty Acres, which would be the program’s first since 2014.
Ranked No. 9 in the final Associated Press Top 25, Texas (19-7) qualified for the NCAA Tournament by claiming an automatic bid for the first time since 1995 when the Longhorns defeated Oklahoma State in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship last Saturday, 91-86, claiming the program’s first Big 12 Tournament championship. To get over the hump and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Smart’s six seasons on the job, Texas has to deal with an Abilene Christian (23-4) squad coming off of a 79-45 throttling of Nicholls State to win the Southland Conference Tournament last Saturday.
Horns247 will be following the action as the Longhorns and Wildcats battle it out for the right to advance to a game in the round of 32 on Monday with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line.
TEXAS STARTERS
— Matt Coleman, Guard, 6-2, 180, Senior; Norfolk, Va. (Oak Hill Academy) — 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game
— Andrew Jones, Guard, 6-4, 192, Junior; Irving (MacArthur) — 14.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game
— Courtney Ramey, Guard, 6-3, 185, Junior; St. Louis, Mo. (Webster Groves) — 12.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and four assists per game
— Jericho Sims, Forward, 6-10, 245, Senior; Minneapolis, Minn. (Cristo Rey Jesuit) — 9.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and one blocked shot per game
— Kai Jones, Forward, 6-11, 218, Sophomore; Nassau, Bahamas (Brewster Academy, N.H.) — 8.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 0.8 steals per game
ABILENE CHRISTIAN STARTERS
— Damien Daniels, Guard, 5-7, 140, Junior; Kansas City, Mo. (Hogan Prep) — 6.1 points, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game
— Reggie Miller, Guard, 6-0, 150, Senior; Houston (Klein Forest/Seward County CC) — 6.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game
— Coryon Mason, Guard, 6-0, 190, Senior; Oklahoma City, Okla. (Douglass/Ranger College) — 10.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game
— Joe Pleasant, Forward, 6-8, 222, Junior; Overland Park, Kan. (Blue Valley Northwest) — 10.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game
— Kolton Kohl, Center, 7-0, 240, Senior; San Angelo (Central) — 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and one blocked shot per game
FIRST HALF UPDATES
— Sims records the first bucket of the NCAA Tournament for Texas on the first possession of the night for the Longhorns. He gets behind the Abilene Christian defense and Andrew Jones finds him for a dunk.
— A deep 3-pointer by Andrew Jones from beyond the top of the key puts Texas ahead, 5-0. Kohl responds by backing down Sims and getting a hook shot in the middle of the lane to drop to get the Wildcats on the board with 18:30 to go.
— Ramey and Andrew Jones misfire on consecutive 3-point attempts, making Texas 0-for-4 from deep since Jones drained his first attempt of the night. Including the Big 12 Tournament, Ramey is 0-for-8 from 3-point range in the postseason.
— Texas leads Abilene Christian at the under-16 media timeout, 7-4, with 15:36 to go in the first half. The Longhorns (3-for-7, 1-for-4 from 3-point range) and Wildcats (2-for-8, 0-for-1 from beyond the arc) are feeling things out offensively. A good sign is Texas winning the turnover battle, 2-1, through the first four-plus minutes of action.
— Greg Brown checks in after the first media timeout of the game and knocks down an open 3-pointer from the corner. Coleman started to drive down the lane and drew defenders toward him, freeing up Brown for the triple.
— Coleman picks up his second foul with 15:03 to play in the half and heads to the bench. Ramey, Andrew Jones and Jase Febres are the three guards on the floor for the Longhorns.
— A mad scramble for the ball winds up with Pleasant getting a clean look at a 3-pointer, which he nails to tie the game at 10 at the 13:23 mark. Abilene Christian is on a 6-0 run.
— Clay Gayman gets loose for a layup to put Abilene Christian on top of Texas by a bucket, 12-10. The under-12 media timeout comes on the next Longhorn possession (11:54) with Texas in the midst of a 3:26 scoring drought in which the Longhorns have committed three turnovers (as a reminder, the Wildcats lead the nation in turnovers forced (20.3 per game).
— Following a Texas shot-clock violation, Gayman drills a contested 3-pointer from the corner. One possession later, Kai Jones is called for an offensive foul. Abilene Christian is on an 11-1 run and the Longhorns have gone nearly five minutes without a field goal, a stretch in which they've committed five turnovers.
— Andrew Jones fires a deep 3-pointer and hits with 10:30 to go, cutting the Abilene Christian lead over Texas to one point, 15-14. Febres follows with a triple of his own on the next Longhorn possession and Ramey ends his slump from deep with a 3-pointer that helps Texas regain the lead, 20-19, with 8:51 remaining in the half.
— The Longhorns own a one-point lead over Abilene Christian, 20-19, when the third media timeout of the half comes with 7:44 on the clock. Texas is shooting 58.3 percent from the field in the first half (7-for-12), an impressive start buoyed by a 5-for-9 effort from 3-point range. The Wildcats have seven points off of seven Longhorn turnovers.
— Andrew Jones is called for an offensive foul with 7:04 to play, marking the ninth turnover of the half for the Longhorns. Abilene Christian leads by one, 23-22.
— Texas goes three and a half minutes without a field until Coleman gets into the lane for his first bucket of the game with 5:21 on the clock. The Longhorns regain a one-point lead, 24-23.
— Ramey gets into the lane and dishes to Kai Jones for two down low to put Texas on top of Abilene Christian, 26-23, with 3:14 left on the clock until halftime. The Wildcats are struggling to make open shots when the Longhorns aren't contesting them, hitting the final media timeout of the half in a 2-for-12 shooting slump that's led to a 3:59 scoring drought.
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— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) March 21, 2021
— Daniels misses a jumper in the closing seconds. Donovan Williams grabs the rebounds and outlets to Ramey, who pushes the ball up the floor and finds Kai Jones for a dunk in the final four seconds of the half. Miller's desperation heave hits the back of the rim, forcing Abilene Christian to head into the locker room in an 0-for-12 shooting slump with the Wildcats making just two of their final 17 shots and going the final 7:13 of the half without a point. Texas, on the other hand, ends the first half on a 6-0 run to take a five-point lead into the half.
HALFTIME: Texas 28, Abilene Christian 23
— The Longhorns went 10-of-21 from the field in the first half, but 12 turnovers helped the Wildcats get off 33 shots (10-for-33). Abilene Christian was only able to score nine points off of the Texas errors, but the Wildcats have been every bit the active, aggressive squad they were billed to be on the defensive end of the court.
— Abilene Christian has the shortest team in the field of 68, but the Wildcats own a plus-2 rebounding margin at the half (17-15). Seven offensive rebounds have led to four second-chance points.
— Seven points from Kai Jones (2-for-2, 3-for-4 from the foul line) leads the way for the Longhorns in the first half. Andrew Jones (four points) and Sims (four points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals) made positive contributions in the first half.
— Royce Hamm grabbed four rebounds in three minutes off of the bench. Williams (one rebound and one assist) played six productive minutes with Andrew Jones and Coleman (two points, one rebound and one assist) dealing with foul trouble (both Longhorn guards will begin the second half with two fouls each).
SECOND HALF UPDATES
— Kai Jones sandwiches the first two buckets of the second half for either side by contesting a reverse shot attempt near the rim by Pleasant. With 11 points, Jones is the first player in the game to reach double figures in scoring.
— The emphasis on paint touches continues to pay off for the Longhorns early in the second half. Good ball movement in the half-court eventually leads to Andrew Jones finding Sims for a dunk and a six-point Texas lead, 34-28, with 17:37 to go.
— A jump ball call with 15:52 on the clock triggers the under-16 media timeout, which comes with Texas holding onto a four-point lead over Abilene Christian, 36-32. The Longhorns grabbed a nine-point lead in the first 41 seconds of the second half, but the Wildcats are hanging tough and have made three of their last six shots after missing 13 in a row.
— A 3-pointer by Makhi Morris and an off-balance jumper by Miller put Abilene Christian back in front by one, 37-36, with 12:55 to go. The Longhorns head to the bench to talk things over in the midst of a 3:10 scoring drought. The 21 points the Wildcats have scored off of 17 Texas turnovers to this point is why the Longhorns are trailing.
— Miller drives, hangs and scores his second bucket in a row, adding to a 7-0 run by the Wildcats. The 18th turnover by the Longhorns triggers the under-12 media timeout, which Texas hits trailing Abilene Christian by three, 39-36.
— Make it a 9-0 run for the Wildcats as Pleasant goes right at Sims and gets one over him to beat the expiring shot clock. The five-point lead, 41-36, is the largest of the night for Abilene Christian and Texas has gone more than five minutes without scoring.
— Coleman ends the scoring drought and the Abilene Christian run by taking the ball to the cup for two after grabbing a defensive rebound. Coleman is playing with three fouls with 9:06 to play and the Longhorns trailing the Wildcats by three, 41-38.
— As he's been known to do, Coleman looks like he's getting ready to put the Longhorns on his back. A hard, decisive drive ends with a floater dropping to get Texas within one, 41-40.
— The Longhorns trail Abilene Christian by three, 43-40, with 7:56 to go in the game. In addition to losing the turnover battle, Texas is losing on the glass right now with Abilene Christian owning a plus-4 edge in rebounding (27-23), including 12 offensive rebounds.
— Sims gets fouled with 7:36 to go. The Longhorns are in the bonus the rest of the way.
— Daniels takes Ramey off the bounce and gets a bucket to fall, drawing a foul in the process. Texas heads to the bench with 3:47 on the clock for the last media timeout of the game trailing Abilene Christian by two, 49-47.
— Ramey misses a pull-up jumper with 1:20 to go. Texas is in a 2-for-10 shooting slump and trails Abilene Christian by three, 50-47.
— Coleman dribbles the ball off of his foot out of bounds with 1:11 to go and the Longhorns trailing by four, 51-47. The 22nd turnover of the night for Texas is a new season-high.
— Andrew Jones gets to the foul line with 56.1 seconds to go. He gets both to fall and the Longhorns trail by two, 51-49. At this point in the game, Texas has converted 17 field goals against 22 turnovers. Abilene Christian has also grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.
— Miller gets tangled up with Coleman on a drive to the bucket with the shot clock winding down. Texas takes possession of the ball with 28.8 seconds left.
— Andrew Jones gives Texas the lead. He nails a 3-pointer from the wing on a kick-out feed from Coleman. The Longhorns lead Abilene Christian by one, 52-51, with 14.6 seconds to play.
— Miller's shot on a drive to the bucket is blocked by Kai Jones, but Coleman is called for a foul in a scrum near the basket with 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation. Pleasant goes to the line with a chance to give the Wildcats the lead.
— Pleasant makes both free throws. Abilene Christian leads by one, 53-52.
— Cunningham's inbound pass is stolen by the Wildcats. Texas loses to the Abilene Christian.
FINAL: Abilene Christian 53, Texas 52
PREGAME NOTES
— This is only the fifth time since the NCAA Tournament expanded to a 64-team field in 1985 that the Longhorns have earned a top-three seed. The No. 3 seed is the program’s best since Texas was a No. 2 seed in 2008, which is also the last time the Longhorns made it out of the first weekend of the tournament.
— When combining the program’s run to the National Invitation Tournament title in 2019 and the Big 12 Tournament, the Longhorns enter the NCAA Tournament on a seven-game winning streak in the postseason (the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament were canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Texas is 5-0 in neutral-site games this season, defeating Davidson, Indiana and North Carolina to win the Maui Invitational and knocking off Texas Tech and Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament.
— The five-game winning streak the Longhorns rode into Indianapolis with was put together in road and neutral-site games (Texas is 11-2 away from the Erwin Center in 2020-21). Three of the five wins came against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 at the time of the game (No. 16 Oklahoma, No. 20 Texas Tech and No. 12 Oklahoma State).
PREGAME QUOTES FROM SHAKA SMART
On Abilene Christian: “They're a really, really good team. They play extremely hard. They're well-coached, they're skilled, they're disciplined.”
On how the Longhorns need to focus on themselves and not get too lost in the Abilene Christian scouting report: “The one thing you don't want to lose sight of is it's about Jericho Sims playing with reckless abandon like he did [in the win over Oklahoma State]. It's about Matt Coleman controlling the game like he did last [Saturday]. It's about getting Andrew attacking and defending with aggressiveness like he did on some of those possessions in the second half [of the win over the Cowboys]. That stuff's most important, regardless of the opponent.”
On Coleman, Jones and Ramey needing to take care of the basketball (No. 285 nationally with 370 turnovers committed in 26 games) when facing the Wildcats, who lead the nation with 20.3 turnovers forced per game: “Those are not the only guys on our team that could potentially turn the ball over, but those are the three guys that have the ball the most. We just have to really emphasize to them making good decisions.”
On how Texas needs to attack Abilene Christian, who ranks second nationally in steals per game (9.9), seventh in scoring defense (60.7 points per game allowed), 23rd in field goal percentage defense (opponents are shooting 40 percent from the field on the season), 34th defending the 3-point line (30.6 opponent percentage) and is No. 31 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy (KenPom.com): “For us, making sure that we move the ball because they do a great job of helping, but then they also do a great job of running out and contesting threes. We can't hold the ball. We've got to move it. They do definitely do a lot of denial, so we have to understand that you don't see that much in the Big 12 with people denying passes. The good thing is, I think, our guys have a sense of how to flow even when a pass is not available. Now, we still have to go and do it in the game, but they've got a heck of a defensive team.”
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