Texas vs. UConn: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2014 Regular Season

The Connecticut Huskies faced a big, early test as reigning national champions in Sunday's matchup with Texas. Coming off its first loss of the young season, UConn was heartbroken seconds before the final buzzer in a 55-54 loss to the AP No. 7 Longhorns.     

Texas standout Jonathan Holmes hit his fourth and last three-pointer of the game with just over two ticks remaining to lift the visitors at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. Holmes led three Longhorns in double figures with 13 points.

ESPN's Jay Bilas praised Texas coach Rick Barnes' play design on Holmes' winning triple:

Holmes discussed his game-winner afterward, via Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman:

Three-point shooting proved to be a big difference for the Longhorns, as they sank 7-of-20 attempts from beyond the arc while UConn missed 13 of its 16 shots from distance.

Gavin Keefe of The Day highlighted how rare it is for Connecticut to lose under Sunday's circumstances:

Huskies senior guard Ryan Boatright had a game-high 24 points, sparking the hosts in the second half after they entered the halftime break trailing, 31-25.

Seth Greenberg of ESPN brought up one factor that led to Texas seizing the early advantage:

Coach Kevin Ollie evidently made the necessary halftime adjustments to put his team in position to succeed and make the game competitive.

Texas' rebounding and size advantage was giving UConn problems in the beginning, but Boatright and the Huskies' superior quickness on the perimeter turned the tide on both ends of the floor.

A crafty finish at the rim by Boatright initially got UConn over the hump:

Neill Ostrout of the Journal Inquirer praised Boatright in comparing him to the preceding floor generals that carried UConn to national championships:

ESPN's Andy Katz felt the venue helped the Huskies' cause:

Davis observed how the Longhorns struggled to impose their physical will once the Huskies got rolling and had the friendly fans in their corner:

Texas' inability to match up on the outside was in part due to the absence of electric guard Isaiah Taylor, who was declared out recently with a broken wrist. ESPN's Jeff Goodman noticed the void Taylor would have filled on Sunday:

A late field-goal drought by the Huskies allowed Texas to creep back into the game, cutting it as close as 51-50 with less than two minutes remaining.

Javan Felix tried to drive to the basket while the lengthier Terrence Samuel guarded him, and Felix began to fall to the floor and threw the ball out of bounds. Boatright was then fouled and sank two free throws, but Felix responded with a driving bucket on the other end.

Then Boatright hit just 1-of-2 the next time he went to the charity stripe, setting the stage for Holmes' buzzer-beater.

Prior to the game, Barnes spoke of the importance of challenging his squad with quality opponents to start the year, per the Hartford Courant's Dom Amore:

"

[Playing tough schedules] has helped us in more ways than you can ever imagine. Win or lose, you get so much out of them. We always want to play a national schedule, against the best teams, expose our programs to that. What Connecticut has done, what North Carolina has done, that's what we want to do—win a national championship.

"

The Huskies are in danger of dropping out of their No. 24 spot in the most recent AP poll when the next rankings are released. They do have two winnable games on tap before a difficult test against fourth-ranked Duke on Dec. 18.

Boatright went down late in the game, clutching what appeared to be his ankle. If that injury is at all serious, UConn's bid to make another deep run in the NCAA tournament could be significantly impeded.

As for Texas, its bid to remain in the Top 10 doesn't get any easier. A road trip to Lexington looms on Friday, where the Longhorns will battle the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in another high-profile showdown.