It's Sweet! Texas advances to the second weekend, makes first Sweet 16 since 2008
Texas had gone since the 2007-08 season since its last appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. No coach at the helm of the Longhorn basketball program was able win two games during the first weekend of March Madness for over a decade. Interim head coach Rodney Terry bucked that trend, as No. 2 seed Texas defeated No. 10 seed Penn State 71-66 on Saturday night to advance to the 11th Sweet 16 in program history.
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Dylan Disu had a season-high 28 points on 14-of-20 shooting with 10 rebounds, while Timmy Allen scored 9 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in magnificent defense of Jalen Pickett. Marcus Carr had 10 points and Sir’Jabari Rice had 13 points as Texas staved off a comeback effort by the Nittany Lions
Texas will face the winner of a Sunday contest between No. 3 seed Xavier and No. 11 seed Pitt in the Midwest regional semifinal in Kansas City, Mo. on March 24. This is the Longhorns eighth Sweet 16 since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, joining appearances in 1990, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008.
Terry, who took over for Beard after his dismissal on January 5, also played a key part in several of Barnes’ Sweet 16 runs at Texas. He was an assistant under Barnes for the 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2008 Sweet 16 appearances. But this run to the regional semifinals will be the first ascribed to his name.
The team has been led all year by a group of experienced players, many in their fourth, fifth, or even sixth year of college basketball. Super-seniors Marcus Carr, Timmy Allen, Christian Bishop, and Sir’Jabari Rice, seniors Brock Cunningham and Dylan Disu, and transfer Tyrese Hunter. Contributions from freshmen Arterio Morris and Dillon Mitchell have been sprinkled in as well.
Plus, Terry has been assisted by one of the most experienced assistant coaching staffs in the country. Himself a former head coach at UTEP and Fresno State, Terry had former head coaches Chris Ogden, Bob Donewald Jr., and Steve McClain working with him after Beard’s dismissal.
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The trip to the second weekend comes following one of the Longhorns’ best regular seasons in recent years. Texas opened the new Moody Center and won all but one contest on home court and spent nearly the entire season ranked within the top 10 of the AP poll. Texas finished second in the Big 12 but eventually took down top-seeded Kansas for the program’s second Big 12 Tournament title.
After disposing of Colgate and Penn State, Texas has joined sweet company. The aspirations for the program are not just to make it to the second weekend. Beard called Texas a “Monday Night Program,” indicating the Longhorns had the ability in his mind to reach and win the national championship game.
That lies ahead in the third weekend, which will require two more wins to make. If Texas is able to emerge as the champions of the Midwest region, where the Houston Cougars are the No. 1 seed, then the Final Four will have a burnt orange tint in NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Two games in Kansas City must be traversed by the Longhorns before they can pack their bags for a home-state national semifinal. But for the first time in over a decade, Texas is playing in the second weekend.
