No. 19 Texas survived Louisville in the Saatva Empire Classic Semifinals at Madison Square Garden, thanks to a late jumper from transfer guard Max Abmus. The Longhorns led by as many as 9 points in the first half but poor perimeter defense by the ‘Horns allowed the Cardinals to stay close, with Kenny Payne’s squad even taking a 29-28 lead at the 6:10 mark. Texas would quickly regain the lead and close the half out with a Max Abmus layup, making the score 41-38 in favor of the Longhorns.
The largest lead of the second half was 5 points by Texas (59-54, 9:36) with lead changes taking place frequently down the stretch. The Cardinals led 80-78 with 1:21 remaining before Mike James fouled Dillon Mitchell who went to the free throw stripe. Mitchell hit the first of two free throws but grabbed his own rebound after missing the second. Brock Cunningham missed a jumper before Texas turned the ball over trailing 80-79 on a shot clock violation. Louisville then turned the ball over with :07 left on a shot clock violation of their own, thanks to the hustle of the Longhorns who almost stole the ball several times. After a Texas timeout, Rodney Terry put the ball into the hands of Abmus, who nailed the game-winning bucket on a fall-away jumper.
Kadin Shedrick had his best game of the season for Texas, scoring a game-high 27 points with 7 rebounds. Max Abmus and Ithiel Horton also reached double digits in scoring, with 14 and 10 points respectively.
Texas shot 46.3% from the floor and just 11.8% from three-point range. Louisville shot 43.4% from the floor and 43.8% from behind the arc. The Longhorns turned the ball over just 5 times compared to 11 by the Cardinals.
The Longhorns will next face defending national champion No. 5 UCONN on Monday in the Championship game of the Classic at 6:00 PM with the game being televised nationally on ESPNU.
