Brock Cunningham, Dylan Disu share moment during Eyes of Texas following NCAA tournament elimination
The Texas Longhorns men’s basketball program could not overcome former head coach Rick Barnes and his current squad, the Tennessee Volunteers, in their Round of 32 matchup. The Longhorns fought valiantly, but in the end, Texas could not find the scoring needed to take down the No. 2 seed, falling 62-58 and ending their dreams of finishing this year as national champions.
Following the game, the reality set in for two Longhorn players whose college careers have come to an end. Forwards Dylan Disu and Brock Cunningham have officially wrapped up their collegiate careers and will be looking towards starting the next chapters in their lives. But before leaving the court after their Round of 32 loss, the duo shared a moment during The Eyes of Texas. You can check out the heartfelt moment and farewell of Disu and Cunningham in the video below.
Disu and Cunningham did all they could to help Texas stay competitive in the game. The Longhorns attempted to run their offense through their starting senior forward by way of Pflugerville, Tex. Unfortunately, he had a horrendous night shooting from the field, connecting on just four of his eighteen shot attempts.
Cunningham did come in off the bench and provided his trademark energy to help the Longhorns late. But that wasn’t enough, as Tennessee found a way to outlast Texas despite some late-game heroics from the Longhorns.
The Longhorns’ defense was huge in the matchup, suffocating the Volunteers’ high-powered offense. Tennessee shot just 22-56 from the field or 33.8 percent from the floor. However, arguably, Texas’ best nullification of the Volunteers’ offense came in the 3-point defense department. The Longhorns held Tennessee to just 12 percent shooting in the game, as they connected on just three of its 25 attempts.
Tennessee’s offensive workhorse Dalton Knecht was held in line for much of the game. Against Texas, he connected on just five of his eighteen shot attempts and was just 1-8 on his three-point attempts. Still, he was able to finish the contest as the game’s leading scorer with 18 points to go along with nine rebounds, as he was a respectable 7-8 from the free-throw line.
The area in which Texas struggled the most on Saturday night was handling the basketball. Texas finished the night with nearly three times as many turnovers (17) as they did assists (six). Guard Tyrese Hunter struggled with handling the basketball, ending the contest with six of the Longhorns’ 17 turnovers.