Down by three and hounded by two defenders, the last college shot attempt for the NCAA’s eighth-leading all-time scorer, a three from the corner with 11 seconds left, hit the backboard and never touched the rim as Max Abmas wasn’t able to produce enough late-game magic for the No. 7 seed Texas Longhorns to come back against the No. 2 seed Tennessee Volunteers in a 62-58 loss on Friday in Charlotte in the NCAA Tournament.
After trailing by nine points at halftime and as many as 12 points in the second half, the Longhorns got within 56-55 on a layup by Abmas with 34 seconds remaining, but he couldn’t tie the game second later and the Volunteers made all six free-throw attempts in the final moments, including four by star Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht, who scored a game-high 18 points despite missing seven of his eight three-point attempts and turning the ball over three times.