Brock Cunningham, Timmy Allen share emotions of loss to Miami

Texas was defeated in disappointing fashion on Sunday night in their Elite Eight matchup with Miami, falling to the Hurricanes 88-81. The loss marks the end of the Longhorns’ NCAA Tournament run, and the end of a career for some of Texas’ seniors. And after the game, a pair of Texas seniors shared their instant reactions to playing in their last game, starting with Brock Cunningham.

“It was very upsetting,” Cunningham said. “This team dealt with a lot of trials and tribulations. It’s just the family that we are. You want to keep playing with your brothers for as long as possible. Unfortunately, there’s only one happy team at the end of it. Wish the game would have went differently. But just a lot of emotions.”

Cunningham came off of the bench for all but four games in his four-year career with the Longhorns. In his senior season, he averaged the most minutes, points, and rebounds per game in his career, and even led the team in rebounds in his final game versus Miami.

“For me, it just hurts for the brothers next to me,” Timmy Allen said. “I’m not playing with them no more. That hurts. I mean, we’ve just ran through every obstacle to this point. The media called us out, our name, time and time again, talking crazy on Texas. Because we’re Texas, we just wanted to represent the right way. It just hurts that we can’t play with each other no more. We really grinded.”

The Longhorns’ national championship hopes fading away brings it’s fair share of sorrow, but it’s clear that to Allen the real pain comes from not playing alongside his teammates again. Allen has only been with Texas for the last two seasons, transferring in from Utah in 2021. But it’s clear that even in his short amount of time in Austin he made unbreakable bonds.

“We were in the trenches every day. No matter what anybody said or what opinion they had about us, what opinion they had about our team. We just went to work and put our heads down. So that’s really what hurts with me is not playing with my brothers,” Allen concluded.

Allen and his squad still have a lot to be proud of, reaching the Elite 8 for the first time since 2008 and winning the Big 12 tournament. Texas’ seniors may never but on the white and orange again, but their legacy will be cemented for years to come.