Dylan Disu Leads Longhorns to Blowout Win Over West Virginia
AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns suffered one of their more disappointing losses of the season on Jan. 13 in Morgantown when a reeling West Virginia squad stifled a No. 25 Texas team that was favored by 6.5 points on the road.
Headed into their second and final meeting of the regular season at the Moody Center on Saturday, a win for Texas was far from a guarantee considering the Longhorns were 1-4 at home in Big 12 play.
Dylan Disu, Max Abmas and Co. made sure there wouldn't be any upsets this time around.
Texas' starting five all scored in double figures and the Longhorns led by as many 43 in a 94-58 blowout win over West Virginia on Saturday.
Disu finished with 27 points - 19 of which came in the first half - three assists, two steals and one block. He was 7 of 10 from deep after starting a perfect 6 of 6.
© Aaron E. Martinez, Austin American-Statesman
Abmas started quiet but picked things up in the second before finishing with 19 points, six rebounds and nine assists. The Longhorns also got double-digits efforts from Chendall Weaver (13 points, six rebounds, four assists) Tyrese Hunter (19 points, five rebounds, seven assists) and Dillon Mitchell (12 points, seven rebounds, four assists).
The Longhorns went 15 of 32 from beyond the arc and set a Big 12 program-record 28 assists.
Early on, the Longhorns found openings on offense that they haven't seen in recent weeks, and Disu took advantage by leading an 11-0 run. He had a one-handed dunk before connecting on three straight triples. Abmas added to the early jolt by swishing a 3-pointer of his own to give Texas an 18-7 lead before at the 16:19 mark.
Even when Disu headed to the bench, the Longhorns didn't slow down and he didn't get cold once returning.
Disu knocked down two more 3s and hit a floater from the block to give him 19 points amid a 7 for 7 start from the floor on five made triples. Weaver, Mitchell and Hunter then put on their own mini dunk contest with a trio of vicious slams over a one-minute span.
At the under-4 timeout, Texas led 47-24. The Longhorns were 20 of 29 from the field (69 percent), 6 of 11 from deep, had 12 fastbreak points, and had already forced seven turnovers.
Abmas hit two more 3s before the half as Texas led 55-30 headed into the locker room.
Disu hit his sixth triple of the game in the opening minute of the second half before finally missing his first shot of the afternoon a few possessions late.
The Longhorns weren't nearly as hot as they were in the first half, but the margin was too large for the Mountaineers to build any momentum.
Texas eventually found its shot again, as Abmas and Hunter helped close things out. With the game well in hand, the Longhorns put together a 16-0 run in the final minutes.
The Longhorns will have a week off before visiting the Houston Cougars next Saturday.
