Texas Basketball: 2 studs, 1 dud from clutch win over Penn State

It definitely was not comfortable, but interim head coach Rodney Terry and the two-seed Texas basketball found a way to get it done on the night of March 18 in the Round of 32 against head coach Micah Shrewsberry and the 10-seed Penn State Nittany Lions. After the 71-66 win over Penn State, Texas is now onto its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2008.

Terry and the Longhorns found different ways to get it done in the first two games of the Big Dance this postseason. Against the 15-seed Colgate Raiders, Texas was able to make it rain from beyond the arc to bury head coach Matt Langel’s squad by a convincing final score of 81-61.

Yet, the three-ball wasn’t falling for the Longhorns against Penn State the same way it was against Colgate a couple of nights ago. Texas shot just 1-of-13 from deep, which was its worst performance from beyond the arc this season.

Solid defense and paint/mid-range scoring from senior big man Dylan Disu wound up getting the job done for the Longhorns in the end.

Dylan Disu puts Texas basketball on his back to get the Horns past No. 10 Penn State

Here’s a look at two studs and one dud for the Longhorns from this clutch five-point win over Penn State in the Round of 32.

Stud No. 1: Timmy Allen, F

Both stud spots on this list probably belong to Disu. But I would be remiss if I didn’t give props to a deserving player who came through with a big performance at a huge time, senior forward Timmy Allen.

In his first game back without a minute restriction with the Longhorns, Allen put in a ton of effort and made some valuable contributions on both ends of the floor.

First off, Allen put up a game-high 12 rebounds in this game, two of which came on the offensive glass. Allen did a really nice job setting the tone on the glass early in this game, grabbing those two offensive rebounds in the first 10 minutes of the first half.

A major key to winning this game for the Longhorns was setting the tone in the paint, which obviously encompasses scoring and rebounding. And Allen provided a major boost in both regards in this game.

Allen had some nice cutting plays and helped get the ball moving inside the arc early on in this game. Two of his four buckets on the night came on nice cutting plays where he was assisted for a basket.

I also have to give Allen a ton of props for the way he dealt with the tough matchup of handling the All-American senior guard Jalen Pickett on the defensive end. Allen was matched up against Pickett on at least half of the defensive possessions where he was on the floor.

The result was Pickett shooting just 38.5 percent from the field on 13 attempts, along with a whopping seven turnovers (ties a season-high for the senior guard).