Longhorns Hold Off Kansas State in Crucial Big 12 Win
AUSTIN -- Coming off their lowest scoring output of the season, the Texas Longhorns faced what felt like a must-win game at home on Monday night against the Kansas State Wildcats at the Moody Center.
Texas nearly set a new season-low scoring mark in potentially its final meeting with K-State, but a crucial Big 12 win made the struggles easier to swallow.
Dylan Disu posted a game-high 20 points and the Longhorns (17-9, 6-7 Big 12) led from start to finish in a 62-56 win despite not taking their first double-digit lead until halfway through the second half.
"We definitely feel like every game going forward for us is an NCAA Tournament game," Disu said. "Every game the committee is going to look at for our resume for whether or not we can get in. So we want to treat every game like it's our last game. And if we lose, then we're out of the tournament. So that's kind of the attitude we had going into tonight."
Kansas State gave Texas its first-ever loss at the Moody Center last year in a 116-103 shootout. From Elite Eight to floating around the March Madness bubble, things have changed for both teams a season later after that wild game. The lack of offensive production Monday night was more proof, as both teams posted shot just 36 percent and went a combined 8 of 38 from 3-point range.
© Scott Wachter, USA TODAY
Disu, who hit 10 of 11 free throws while adding eight rebounds and three steals, was the only Longhorn to finish in double figures. Tyrese Hunter tallied nine points and seven rebounds while Dillon Mitchell added eight points and 10 rebounds.
Kansas State (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) forward Arthur Kaluma posted a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds while guard Tylor Perry added 13 points and four assists. Wildcats forward David N'Guessan also had double figures with 12 points and seven rebounds.
"They had 62, but really, they had 55 points, right?" Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said. "We had the foul at the end, when you can hold a team to 55 points that means your players gave you an effort that was worthy of a W."
Texas guard Max Abmas was held to single-digit scoring for just the second time this season, but passed the 3,000-point mark after finishing with eight points and five assists.
K-State started the game 3 of 14 from the field and found little room to operate against Texas' defense. There was a clear difference on the glass and from a physicality standpoint for the Longhorns compared to Saturday's loss to Houston.
Texas built an 18-11 lead at the 8:30 mark and eventually back up to a seven-point margin again at 25-18 after the under-4 timeout despite some pushes from the Wildcats.
Free throws helped keep K-State at bay, but the Longhorns went 4:08 without a field goal to end the half and took a 27-22 lead to the locker room. Disu led all scorers with eight while Mitchell had six points of his own.
Both teams came out in the second half without much offensive improvement, as Texas maintained its lead but couldn't quite pull away while the game remained within single digits.
The Longhorns were letting K-State hang around for far too long and it looked like it was coming back to bite them. Still looking for their first lead of the game, the Wildcats cut the lead to two at 33-31.
A eventual 7-0 run by the Horns woke the crowd up as Texas built its biggest lead of nine at 40-31. Abmas sparked the run with a jumper at the 14:04 mark that put him at the 3,000-point milestone.
A vicious dunk from Mitchell before the under-8 timeout finally gave Texas its first double-digit lead at 46-35.
After a 6-0 run from Texas to make it a 54-42 game, Kaluma converted a four-point play that sparked a 6-0 run for the Wildcats, who now trailed by just six with 2:12 to play.
The Longhorns missed some free throws down the stretch but did just enough to hold off Kansas State.
Texas will visit No. 9 Kansas on Saturday.
