3 players that can get Texas basketball from Sweet 16 to Final Four

Dylan Disu, PF/C

The most valuable player for the Longhorns since the start of the Big 12 Tournament a couple of weeks ago is clearly Disu. The senior big man is playing some of the best basketball of his career when it matters most to the Longhorns in March.

In seven games played in March, Disu he’s at least doubled his scoring, rebounding, and steal averages on the season. He’s averaged around 15 points per game, eight rebounds, one steal, and one block while shooting an insanely-efficient 69.2 percent from the field and 90.0 percent from the free-throw line in March.

And Disu was really able to put on a show in front of his “Iowa family” in the first two games of the Big Dance in Des Moines. He reportedly used to spend his summers in Iowa in front of some of his family, which don’t get to see him play often. But that part of his family that he used to spend summers with in Iowa did get to see him play this weekend.

Wow, did Disu ever leave it all out on the court playing in front of his family?

What’s even crazier is that Disu only continues to get better in the NCAA Tournament. Among all players in the NCAA Tournament that have played in at least two contests thus far, Disu leads the pack in scoring at a clip of 22.5 points per game.

Disu did most of his damage with a record-breaking 28 point, 10 rebound, two steal, and zero turnover performance in Texas’ Round of 32 win over Penn State. He is literally the only player since the turn of the century to do that while shooting better than 60 percent from the field in a single NCAA Tournament game.

Disu’s performance in the win over Penn State was enough for the Longhorn legend Kevin Durant to give him a shout-out on Twitter saying that he “looked like a young LaMarcus Aldridge out there”. That is obviously high praise from one of the best to ever do it wearing the Burnt Orange.

Texas has found a way to get the job done this postseason, largely thanks to the fact that they can just dump the ball to Disu either at the high post or near the rim and let him go to work. And given how Disu just can’t miss, even when contested on his looks from the field, it’s clear just how tough of a defensive matchup he will be for opponents moving forward.

There isn’t much that I have to say about Disu’s performance thus far. If he just keeps playing even close to the level that he has in the last couple of weeks for the Longhorns, that is more than enough for him to do his part to keep this team moving on in the Big Dance.

Regardless of whether Texas faces Xavier or Pitt in the Sweet 16 next week, Disu will be one of the biggest matchup nightmares for Texas’ opposition to deal with. He’s been nothing but money for the Longhorns.