Max Abmas hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a personal 11-0 run in crunch time as visiting Texas made all the plays in the final minutes to beat No. 25 TCU 77-66 on Saturday afternoon in a key Big 12 dustup in Fort Worth, Texas.
Texas (15-7, 4-5 Big 12) led by 11 points at halftime before the Horned Frogs rallied to take a brief lead with nine minutes to play. The game was tied at 64 after a pair of free throws by TCU’s Emanuel Miller with 3:53 left.
That’s when Abmas took charge. He had a layup and free throw with 3:25 to play, then poured in 3-pointers on the ensuing two possessions — the latter of which came from 30 feet — to push Texas’ lead to 73-64 with 1:47 left. Abmas added four free throws in the final 42 seconds to finish off his 21-point effort and allow the Longhorns to snap a two-game losing streak.
Dylan Disu added 15 points and Dillon Mitchell had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Texas.
Miller led TCU (16-6, 5-4) with 15 points while Avery Anderson III scored 13 and JaKobe Coles and Trevian Tennyson adding 10 apiece. The Horned Frogs had a three-game winning streak snapped.
TCU hit five of its first six shots from the floor — and its first two 3-pointers — while building a 12-4 lead by the game’s first media timeout. The Horned Frogs led by 10 before Texas started whittling away at the margin, pulling to within 21-18 when Brock Cunningham drained a 3-pointer at the midway mark of the first half.
The Horned Frogs were up 25-20 when Coles hit a jumper with 8:47 to play before halftime. Texas then ran off a 10-0 run capped by Disu’s 3-pointer two minutes later assume its own five-point advantage. TCU culled that deficit to 32-30 on a layup by Avery Anderson III with 4:51 to play but the Longhorns pulled away, outscoring the home team 11-2 over the rest of the half to take a 43-32 lead into the break.
Disu and Mitchell lead the Longhorns with 10 points each before halftime, while Anderson led all scorers with 11 points. Texas’ lead was built with the help a 26-14 edge in points in the paint and five Horned Frogs’ turnovers over the final five minutes of the half.
–Field Level Media