Dylan Disu’s huge night leads Texas Longhorns to 71-66 win over Penn State, berth in Sweet 16
DES MOINES, Iowa (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns won’t be able to hit the water if they fall overboard from the 3-point line on Saturday against No. 10 seed Penn State, but senior forward Dylan Disu makes up for that – and then some.
Disu scored a game-high 28 points on 14-of-20 shooting as the Longhorns beat the Nittany Lions 71-66 to advance to the Sweet 16 despite going 1-for-13 from distance.
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This is the first time Texas has reached the Sweet 16 since the 2007-08 season. Longhorns interim head coach Rodney Terry was an assistant to head coach Rick Barnes.
It was a season high for Disu, who had a solid playoff run in Texas. He was named the Big 12 Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player after scoring 44 points in three games and had 17 points and 10 rebounds in a first-round NCAA Tournament win over Colgate.
His 14 field goal percentage broke the school record for field goal percentage in an NCAA tournament game shared by Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge.
Texas led 31-23 at halftime despite missing eight of their 3-point attempts. The Nittany Lions went 2-for-13 from 3-point range, thus putting both teams through the first-round play area without starting the game at all. Penn State warmed up from the perimeter in the second half to close the game, going 6 for 15 from 3-point range.
The game was tied at halftime, but the Longhorns led the remainder of the game after Rice’s layup with 7:02 left. Disu scored six of the Longhorns’ final eight points of the first half, with the final play coming on a long shot by Marcus Carr just before the buzzer.
The Longhorns advance to the Sweet 16 and face No. 11 seed Pittsburgh or No. 3 seed Xavier at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
More details and postgame quotes will be added to this story later.Check for updates
