AUSTIN, Texas — Clutching their sides and hiding their faces to control watering eyes, the Illini walked off the court at the Frank Erwin Center in a haze of disbelief, trying to grasp at anything as the clock struck zero on their season.

In a basketball game where underdogs sought to overcome heavy favorites, seniors pushed to limits unknown to defy the ends of their careers and the team that no one thought could win took a lead into the final minutes, a dubious call from a referee and a world-beating shot from one of the nation’s best point guards downed Illinois in a heartbreaking 63-59 loss to Miami in the third round of the NCAA tournament.

The two plays in question were in crunch time — a Sweet 16 berth in the balance.

Down one with a minute remaining and with D.J. Richardson hounding him, Miami point guard Shane Larkin took the shot clock down to its final seconds and then stepped back with just enough space to bury a 3-pointer and give Miami a 57-55 lead.

On the next possession, D.J. Richardson tried to answer with a 3-pointer of his own, but missed badly. The resulting scrum for the rebound near the basket ended in a ball being tipped out of bounds. The referee in front of the scrum determined the ball tipped off Nnanna Egwu’s fingertips. However, replay showed clearly that the ball went of Miami’s Kenny Kadji, much to the ire of Illinois players and staff.

Under NCAA rules, the play was not reviewable, and no other referee attempted to overrule the original call. Miami took possession and proceeded to connect on all six of its free throw attempts in the final minute to ice the game.

Illinois head coach John Groce paused for a moment in the postgame press conference before addressing the referee’s decision, chewing his mouth while mulling his impending response.

“Well I had two thoughts,” Groce said. “One, I thought the officiating Friday, and today was tremendous. These are the best of the best. I thought they did a good job as you saw.

“And my second thought is you saw the same video I did.”

The questionable call was a tough reality for the Illini, but an even tougher reality might be the lead — and momentum — Illinois possessed with such little time left in the game.

Brandon Paul, who led Illinois with 18 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the game to 50-48. Later, successive dunks by Tracy Abrams and Brandon Paul gave Illinois a 54-52 advantage with 3:23 remaining.

A jumper by Miami guard Durand Scott knotted the game back at 54, followed by Abrams connecting on one of two free throws to give Illinois its last lead at 55-54.

That’s when Larkin delivered the dagger, but the degree of difficulty on the shot was microcosmic of Illinois’s staunch defense throughout the game.

“Our hats are off to Illinois,” Miami head coach Jim Larranaga said. “I thought they played the best defense on us that we have seen.

“After the game was over, I was still kind of stunned and when I shook hands with John Groce, I was speechless. I didn’t even know what to say to him. Because I thought his kids played their heart out.”

Defense and rebounding, traits that weren’t always apparent in this Illinois team, were calling cards, evidenced by a career-high 12 rebounds from Egwu and seven from Griffey.

But offense, particularly 3-point shooting from the Illini’s go-to seniors, abandoned Illinois. Paul went 2-of-9 from 3-point land and Richardson, in his final game in an Illinois uniform, shot 1-11 from the field and 1-10 from 3-point range.

“It’s not easy because I believe in D.J.,” Groce said. “I know he believes in himself. They just didn’t go in.”

The lasting image of the 2012-2013 Illinois basketball team will be Paul, pulling his jersey over his eyes as he slowly walked off the court, four years of big-shots, wins and memories suddenly falling back into a permanent past.

“When the clock hit zero, it kind of hit me faster than I thought it would that that was the last game of my college career,” Paul said.

Thomas can be reached at [email protected] and @ThomasBruch.