Rapid Recap: Longhorns suffer first defeat of the season to UConn, can't complete second-half comeback in 81-71 loss

A scorching opening 10 minutes that saw No. 5 UConn build a lead as large as 16 was backed up by a second-half effort from Husky guard Alex Karaban where he made a number of extremely difficult shots to stave off the No. 15 Longhorns’ comeback efforts in the finals of the Saatva Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Texas fell 81-71 for its first loss of the season.

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UConn, the defending national champions, received 20 points from Karaban, who hit several fadeaway jump shots while closely defended in late shot clock situations. Those makes helped to keep Longhorns at bay for most of the second half despite their spirited efforts efforts.

Texas cut the Husky lead to as little as four with just under six minutes to play, but the Longhorns had empty possessions on six of their eight final times with the basketball while the Huskies scored 10 points in that same timespan to put the game at its final total. One of the two successful trips down the floor was a layup with 21 seconds to play that was inconsequential to the final result.

Dillon Mitchell led all scorers with a career-high 21 points. Mitchell also pulled down eight rebounds in one of his best efforts in a burnt orange uniform. Tyrese Hunter scored 13 points, all of them in the second half. Ithiel Horton added 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting. Max Abmas reached double-figures with 10 points but required a 4-for-14 night to get there.

Texas finished shooting 45 percent from the field and 31 percent from three. Texas was also 10-for-13 from the line, a stat significantly behind the Huskies’ 16-for-18 effort. The Longhorns never led in the contest. Rodney Terry‘s committed just six turnovers on the night, but were soundly out-rebounded 40-29.

Part of that was due to who wasn’t in the lineup for Texas. The Longhorns were again without the services of Dylan Disu, who ESPN’s Karl Ravech said was participating in drills on the Madison Square Garden floor during the leadup to the game.

They were also without Kadin Shedrick, who Texas ruled out prior to the game for precautionary purposes. Shedrick scored a career-high 27 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the Longhorns’ 81-80 win over Louisville on Sunday. Shedrick had multiple shoulder surgeries during the offseason and was cleared for full-court play the week before the Texas season opener versus Incarnate Word.

The lack of size manifested itself in the form of 18 first-half points in the paint by the Huskies. Thanks to teamwide extra effort running to the rim and the advantage of having 6-foot-10 Samson Johnson, UConn converted on five dunks and 4-of-11 layup opportunities in the opening 20 minutes. The Huskies also took advantage of the size discrepancy by pulling down 23 first-rebounds to the Longhorns’ 15. Johnson scored 11 first-half points and ended with 15 in the game. Cam Spencer scored 16 points for the Huskies on 4-of-12 shooting, with six of his points resulting from a perfect night at the charity stripe.

The size UConn had maintained the advantage an early shooting flurry gave to the defending national champions. UConn started 10-for-13 to build a 26-11 lead by the under-12 timeout. They’d go 5-for-19 the remainder of the half, but four different converted three-point plays and three 2-for-2 efforts at the line helped stave off a Texas comeback.

The Longhorns were paced in the first half by Mitchell, who scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and was 3-for-5 at the line. He also pulled down five rebounds. No other Longhorn scored more than six points in the first half. Starting guards Abmas and Hunter combined to shoot 2-for-11, with Abmas providing the only two makes.

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Texas’ next game is Sunday when the Longhorns host the Wyoming Cowboys in the Moody Center on Sunday at 2 p.m.