Dylan Disu's white-hot second half not enough for Longhorns to overcome Iowa State in 70-65 home loss

Thanks to 28 points by Dylan Disu, including 22 in the second half, the Texas Longhorns almost erased a 17-point Iowa State halftime lead in the Moody Center on Tuesday night. But the furious comeback effort came back just short as the Longhorns dropped to 1-4 at home in Big 12 games via a 70-65 loss to the Cyclones.

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Disu had a stretch in the second half where he scored every point in a 14-5 Texas run that cut the Cyclone lead to 62-59 with 3:00 left. But Texas could only go bucket-for-bucket with ISU from that juncture and fell short at home.

Disu was the only Longhorn to make a bucket from distance on the evening. Max Abmas added 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting but missed all five of his three-point attempts. Tyrese Hunter added zero points against his former team on 0-for-8 shooting. His seven assists were weighed down by three turnovers and a minus-11 plus/minus.

Texas entered the second period down by 17 points but five-straight Abmas free throws made it a 12-point game. Iowa State bumped it back up to a game-high 18-point margin, but Abmas, Disu, and Dillon Mitchell helped bring it back down to 11 before Disu went on his scorching run.

A key sequence then took place with 90 seconds remaining. Hunter turned the ball over, which allowed the Cyclones to bring the ball up the floor. On the defensive end, Mitchell went for a steal but was unsuccessful. That lead to a three-pointer from Tamin Lipsey that bumped the Cyclone lead up the seven points that Texas could not overcome.

Iowa State’s first-half lead was the result of excellent shooting from the Cyclones and poor offensive results from Texas. The combination of the two meant the Longhorns couldn’t run in transition. UT had been sporadic in the half-court, and Terry prefers the team run when able. Taking the ball out from under the basket clipped Texas’ intent from the jump, and that made life tough on offense until Disu hit his streak.

Iowa State’s domination in the first half started early with the Cyclones jumping out to a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes. Over the rest of the half, Iowa State would extend its lead to 17 and enter the dressing room with a 36-19 lead. Texas cut the lead down to nine at the 7:05 mark of the first half thanks to a Brock Cunningham jumper, but a 6-0 Cyclone run bumped the lead back up to 15. ISU would cruise into halftime on a 5-0 run.

The visitors attempted 31 shots in the first half and made 16 of them. Twenty-three of those attempts were from two-point land, part of why 20-of-36 points from the Cyclones were in the paint.

Abmas, who entered the game as Texas’ leading scorer, posted zero points on 0-for-5 shooting in the first half. His goose-egg was matched by fellow starting guard Hunter, who was 0-for-6 to start and 0-fer to finish. No Longhorn save for Disu had more than five points at half.

An ugly half for Texas had plenty of ugly numbers to describe the action. Texas missed all seven of its three-point attempts, part of a 30 percent shooting effort in the first 20 minutes. The Cyclones, who entered Tuesday’s contest second in the nation in forcing turnovers, recorded five steals as part of nine Texas turnovers. Texas had 14 total turnovers.

Disu pulled down 10 boards for a double-double. Mitchell had 10 points and five rebounds. Chendall Weaver had five points and seven rebounds.

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The matchup was the Longhorns sixth straight against a ranked opponent, a first in program history. Texas emerged 3-3 through the stretch.

Texas hosts West Virginia on Saturday at 2 p.m.

FINAL | Iowa State 70, Texas 65

Texas' furious effort comes short. Dylan Disu's 28 points isn't enough to overcome a dismal offensive first half.

Longhorns end up 3-3 over a six-game stretch against ranked games but fall to 4-6 in the Big 12 and 15-8 overall.

— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) February 7, 2024