Dylan Disu's record-breaking performance boosts Texas into the Sweet 16

Styles make fights, and Saturday night’s NCAA Tournament second round game between No. 2 seed Texas and No. 10 seed Penn State played into the hands of Longhorn big man Dylan Disu.

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Penn State, the No. 6 three-point shooting team in the country, entered Saturday night’s round of 32 game wanting to draw the Longhorn defense in with second-team All-American Jalen Pickett before he dished the ball out to a number of shooters who hit over 40 percent of their attempts from distance.

The Nittany Lion team that Micah Shrewsberry put together could shoot, but it lacked height in the post. That’s where the style of the game played into Disu’s hands.

“We knew we had a size advantage in there,” Texas interim head coach Rodney Terry said. “We knew we had a guy that could score the ball that’s played at a very high level inside as well. Whether they were in man or zone, our game plan was really trying to get the ball in the paint and score in the paint.”

Disu scored a Texas career-high 28 points on 14-of-20 shooting and pulled down 10 rebounds. He added 16 points in the second half to help stave off a Nittany Lion comeback attempt and advance Texas to its first Sweet 16 since the 2007-08 season.

Disu was masterful in the midrange and the paint, making 14-of 19 shots from inside the arc as part of a 40-point effort in the lane by the Longhorns. Those 14 makes from Disu eclipsed a program record previously held by LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Durant for made field goals in an NCAA Tournament game.

“Everyone has dreams of showing up in March Madness, but I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” Disu said. “They were finding me and hitting me. A lot of my shots, I took one dribble on, so that means my teammates had to find me first. Credit to them and credit to the coaches for putting me in position to score tonight.”

Texas needed every bit of the production Disu provided, plus the double-digit scoring nights from Sir’Jabari Rice (13 points) and Marcus Carr (10 points). The Longhorns made just a single three-point shot in 13 attempts versus Penn State, but hit 65 percent of their shots from inside the arc.

The trio of Disu, Rice, and Carr scored when it mattered most following a late run by Penn State. The Nittany Lions came back from an 11-point deficit to take a 56-55 lead with 5:12 remaining. The crowd in Des Moines, Iowa, which became partial to the underdog No. 10 seed as the game carried on and shifted even further in Penn State’s favor after Seth Lundy made a layup off a UT turnover to give the Nittany Lions a 58-55 lead with 4:48 left.

Penn State made its run thanks to a 6-for-15 effort from distance in the second half. Lundy, Myles Dread, and Andrew Funk all hit two three-pointers in the second 20 minutes and that trio was pivotal in capitalizing on Longhorn mistakes and giving Penn State a late lead. Terry then called a timeout and had a familiar message.

“I just said, ‘hey guys, you know what? We’ve been here before,'” Terry said. “‘This is nothing we haven’t faced this year. We play in the toughest league in the country. Let’s go out right now. We’ve got to put it on our defense right now. We’ve done it all year long. We’ve got to get a stop, score, and put some stops together here to try to finish this game out.'”

From that point on, however, Disu was 5-of-5 from the field and Carr made his only field goal to close the game out. A late missed free throw and a PSU four-point play kept the contest in question until Carr calmly hit two at the line with under five seconds left to send the Longhorns into the second weekend. The Longhorns scored 16 points in the final five minutes, while Penn State could only put eight on the board.

Disu’s night versus PSU continues his surge during the month of March. In Texas’ seven games during the most important month in college basketball, Disu has scored at least nine points in every contest, has turned in a 15-plus point performance three times, and has two double-doubles in as many NCAA Tournament games.

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These recent outings have been the strongest of his two seasons in Austin. His scoring is a tremendous addition forTerry and company, but Disu’s constant effort rebounding and defending opposing post players even while comparatively undersized has made him an important part of the Longhorn defensive strategy.

Also critical to the Longhorn defense on Saturday night was Timmy Allen. The super-senior drew the assignment of Pickett, and played effective defense on one of the Big 10’s best players. Pickett committed seven turnovers, was assessed four fouls, recorded a single assist, and didn’t score a point in the final 13:33.

“We put it on our defense,” Terry said. “We know some nights, we’re not going to shoot as well as we want to shoot, but our defense travels and its traveled for us over the last, give-or-take, eight, nine ballgames of the season.”

Texas stifled PSU to the tune of 23 first-half points. While Shrewsberry’s team ripped off 43 points in the second half, Texas almost matched the Penn State effort with a 40-point period of its own. Texas’ eight-point halftime advantage, created by a Carr jumper at the buzzer, was the result of a 31-point first half.

As a result, Texas is back in the second weekend for the first time since Terry was an assistant for then-head coach Rick Barnes.

“We’re back in the Sweet 16,” Terry said. “This is why these guys came back. Seven guys came back from last year’s team, and they came back because they wanted more of this madness here and they wanted to continue to try to have an incredible year.”

The Longhorns face the winner of Sunday’s matchup between No. 11 seed Pitt and No. 3 seed Xavier. The Midwest region semifinals will take place in Kansas City, Mo.