On January 9, Rodney Terry and the No. 25 Texas basketball team defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats on the road at Fifth Third Arena to record their first Big 12 victory of the year. Senior guard Max Abmas scored another crucial last-second basket to give Texas the victory over Cincinnati.
The Longhorns and Bearcats engaged in a back-and-forth game in Cincinnati this evening. About a dozen times, the lead was switched between Texas and Cincinnati. And there were more than twelve ties in the game.
For a considerable amount of the game, neither team had any control. Furthermore, neither the Bearcats nor the Longhorns ever had a double-digit advantage.
The Longhorns won this game because to strong performances from two of their biggest players, effective free-throw shooting, and capitalizing on Cincy turnovers. Abmas’s game-winning basket in the final seconds gave the Longhorns the victory.
Gaining their first Big 12 victory of the year was significant for the Longhorns. In the Big 12 opener on January 6, Texas was defeated by the Texas Tech Red Raiders by double digits at home. The Longhorns can gather confidence for the remainder of conference play with a significant road victory like this one versus Cincinnati.
Here are two players that stood out and one that didn’t from the Longhorns’ thrilling 74-73 victory against Cincy on the road on January 9.
The first was in November, when Texas defeated the Louisville Cardinals in their opening game of the Empire Classic at MSG in New York City thanks to a buzzer-beater jump shot by Abmas.
In this game, Abmas showed that he still had it in him as he emerged from his scoring slump in the second half to make the game’s pivotal shot for the Longhorns. Abmas was shooting two of six from the field for five points prior to making the game-winning basket for the Longhorns.
Abmas’s overall body of work in this game was fairly strong. Not only did he secure a stud spot on this list with the game-winning basket in the clutch. In this game, Abmas contributed significantly on both ends of the court when it mattered.
Abmas scored 15 points by making 6 of 14 field goals and 3 of 7 long-range shots. Abmas has scored at least 15 points in three straight games.
But in this victory over Cincy, he accomplished more than just score the hoop. Abmas effectively assisted the offense as well, tallying a team-high five assists while committing only two turnovers.
This evening, Abmas put forth a strong two-way effort that was capped off with three rebounds and one steal. The Longhorns anticipated exactly this kind of clutch play from Abmas when he transferred from Oral Roberts in the offseason.
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