Abilene Christian’s Havoc Heavy Defense Took Down Shaka Smart And Texas In The NCAA Tournament

The Texas Longhorns are dancing no more. In the final game in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, No. 14 Abilene Christian went blow-for-blow with the No. 3 Longhorns, and thanks to one of the most inspired defensive efforts you’ll ever see, managed to come out on top at the very end. When the dust settled after Wildcat forward Joe Pleasant hit a pair of cold-blooded free throws, ACU picked up a 53-52 win.

The story of the game was how Abilene Christian, which came into the game tops in the nation at turnover percentage, taking the ball away from Texas over at will. In a scene reminiscent of Longhorns coach Shaka Smart making the Final Four with VCU behind his “havoc” defense, ACU forced 23 Longhorns turnovers over the course of the game. That, combined with the Wildcats absolutely mauling UT on the boards (they had 20 offensive rebounds compared to Texas’ five), meant that even though they went 20-for-67 from the field, the Longhorns just got up so few shots (18-for-40) that it did not matter.

Still, Texas was right there at the end. Battle-tested guard Andrew Jones got a look to put his team ahead in the game’s waning moments, and his shot could not have been more pure.

On the ensuing possession, an attempted layup by ACU’s Reggie Miller went horribly awry, but the ball fell into the hands of Pleasant, who was fouled with 1.2 seconds left.

Pleasant, a 58.5 percent shooter, made them both, and after Texas’ hopes of a miracle went awry, Abilene Christian picked up its first NCAA Tournament win in program history over the university that runs its state.

To celebrate, one Wildcat threw up a Horns Down, which will certainly go over well in the greater-Austin area.

The win was historic in that it marks the first time in Tournament history that four teams seeded 13th or higher will advance to the second round. Abilene Christian will play next on Monday, when they’ll take on the UCLA Bruins.