Dylan Disu's 33 points, Max Abmas' game-winning jumper boost No. 25 Texas past Cincinnati
Dylan Disu‘s career-high 33 points kept Texas in a back-and-forth game at a packed Fifth Third Arena primed to celebrate Cincinnati’s first-ever home conference game as members of the Big 12. But thanks to Disu’s efforts and Max Abmas‘ heroics, the Longhorns delayed the celebration until the Bearcats next home game.
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Abmas nailed the game-winning jumper with eight seconds left to help the No. 25 Longhorns squeak past Cincinnati, 74-73. It was the final of 14 different lead changes in addition to the 14 ties the game featured over the course of 40 minutes. The win provided the Longhorns with their first Big 12 Conference win of the 2023-24 season and the program’s first Quadrant I win on its NCAA Tournament resume.
Disu was the difference-maker on both ends of the floor for the Longhorns, especially in light of the absence of fellow big man Kadin Shedrick. Texas head coach Rodney Terry said postgame that Shedrick suffered a minor back injury versus Texas Tech and wanted to hold him out for the contest.
That put considerable offensive and defensive pressure on Disu, and he stepped up in every way. Disu scored 19 points in the first 20 minutes on 8-of-14 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. He followed that up with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting and a 2-of-5 effort from the field in the second half. On defense, he added two blocks and four steals and made the most of his four fouls.
With the Longhorns trailing by three with under a minute left, Disu made a midrange jumper that brought the Longhorns to within one. Texas played the foul game on the other end, setting up a one-and-one effort for Cincinnati. John Newman III missed the front end, Brock Cunningham skied for the defensive rebound, and kickstarted the offense for Abmas’ eventual game winner.
Texas’ largest lead was seven, which was in the first half. Cincinnati’s largest lead was five, also in the first half.
The margin never grew wider than four points in the entire second half.
Cincinnati was led in scoring by Simas Lukosius, who scored 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Lukosius scored 12 points in the final eight minutes but his last-second heave banked off the glass and rim without going in.
Without Shedrick, Texas only went eight deep. In addition to Disu’s 33 points, Abmas added 15 points while Tyrese Hunter and Dillon Mitchell each reached double figures with 10 points. Two points from Cunningham and four points from Ze’Rik Onyema rounded out the Texas scoring.
The Longhorns shot 51 percent from the field, 35 percent from three, and 90 percent from the line. Viktor Lakhin scored 17 points for the Bearcats while Jamille Reynolds added 11.
Texas led for most of the first half, with Cincy only notching 3:07 with the lead in the opening 20 minutes. Texas put together two different 7-0 runs but the Bearcats never let the Longhorn lead get larger than seven. A Disu jumper with 19 seconds left in the half put the Longhorns ahead by two entering the break.
Texas shot 52 percent from the field in the first half and 36 percent from deep. The Longhorns added three points from the line with Disu going 1-of-2 and Mitchell hitting both of his first-half attempts.
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The Longhorns travel to West Virginia on Saturday for a 5 p.m. Central matchup, the first of two with the Mountaineers this season.
