Texas Basketball: Frontcourt completely overpowers Incarnate Word

It wasn’t even close between No. 16 ranked Texas basketball and Incarnate Word in the final game of the non-conference slate for new head coach Chris Beard prior to the start of Big 12 play. Texas took on Incarnate Word at home at the Frank Erwin Center on the night of Dec. 28 in the final game before the Big 12 opener on New Year’s Day.

Beard and the Longhorns will take on the West Virginia Mountaineers and head coach Bob Huggins on Jan. 1 to open up conference play. That is why building up momentum in this game against Incarnate Word is so important for the Longhorns ahead of the weekend.

Texas got off and running in this game much faster than they did at any point in the first half in their last game against the Alabama State Hornets too. Alabama State made the first half against Texas uncomfortably close behind the efforts the former Longhorns forward Gerald Liddell.

By the time that Texas went into the locker room at halftime in this meeting with Incarnate Word, they already held a 39-14 lead. Texas put up 39 points again in the second half against the Cardinals to get the win in the end by the final score of 78-33.

Texas basketball takes down UIC behind the duo of Dylan Disu and Tre Mitchell

The top-ranked defense in the entire country for the Longhorns was put on full display against lowly Incarnate Word on this game. Texas came into this game with the nation’s top defense in terms of points allowed per game. They were allowing just 53 points per game heading into this game.

That average will obviously drop after this win over Incarnate Word.

The driving force in this game for the Longhorns’ victory was definitely the play of the frontcourt unit. Texas is firing on all cylinders in the frontcourt right now behind the efforts of the duo of big men Dylan Disu and Tre Mitchell. Former Vanderbilt power forward and standout junior Disu and the former UMass star center Mitchell put on a show on this night.

There were other solid contributions that Texas got from the forward duo of Timmy Allen and Christian Bishop. But none were better than Disu and Mitchell.

Disu and Mitchell combined for 28 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, three steals, and seven blocks.

By the way, let’s take a moment to appreciate the game and career-high five blocks from Disu in this outing.

Moreover, they were solid shooting on the night too, as both hit their looks from the field at a clip better than 50 percent.

Disu and Mitchell were great for the Longhorns on both ends of the floor. Beard and the Longhorns adding these two via the NCAA Tranfer Portal is going to pay dividends, and it will be evident at the outset of Big 12 play too.

Beard and the Longhorns got a double-digit number of players playing time in this win over Incarnate Word. This was about as good as this game could go for the Longhorns, regardless of a few guards that Texas needs to get going ahead of the start of conference play.

Texas will take a record of 10-2 into the start of Big 12 play through their first dozen games of the regular season. Disu and Mitchell are guiding this wave of momentum during a four-game winning streak heading into conference play.