Texas Basketball: 3 reasons Dylan Disu has been Big 12's MVP

After missing the first month of the regular season as he was recovering from a foot procedure, senior Texas basketball big man Dylan Disu has been electric in the last couple of months. Disu has not only been arguably Texas's best player in conference play this season but also the best player in the Big 12.

Disu picked up right where he left off when he left off late last season for the Longhorns. He caught fire down the stretch last season and in the postseason, winning the Big 12 Tournament MVP and leading the Longhorns to two wins to begin the NCAA Tournament.

Texas basketball C Dylan Disu performing at an All-American level this season

Unfortunately, Disu dealt with a foot injury that kept him out of most of the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight for then interim head coach Rodney Terry's squad.

But Disu has been every bit as valuable to this team in Big 12 play this season as he was when he led the Longhorns to the conference tournament crown last year. When he's not helping lead the Longhorns to key victories in conference play, Disu is often single-handedly keeping Texas close with tough competition in the Big 12.

Here are three reasons why Disu has been the best player in the Big 12 in conference play this season.

Scoring pace

Disu has been an unstoppable force on the offensive end of the floor in the last calendar year. Since he caught fire down the stretch last season, it's rare to see Disu score any fewer than 12 or 15 points per game when he's fully healthy.

In fact, since the start of last year's Big 12 Tournament, Disu has only scored in single digits against a conference foe once (while playing at least 20 minutes) in 13 games. He's averaged nearly 20 points per game against Big 12 teams in that span of just over a dozen games since he led Texas to a Big 12 Tournament crown last year.

Disu has arguably been even better scoring the basketball this season than he was down the stretch last year for the Longhorns. He's leading the Big 12 in points per game in conference play this season, at a clip of 18.9. And he's doing all that while posting immaculate shooting percentages of better than 50 percent from the field and over 50 percent from deep.

But we'll talk more about his shooting efficiency later.

I'll sum this point up by saying that when a player as good as Disu scores at such an impressive clip in Big 12 play, they often deserve the conference's POY honors. In two of the last three years, the Big 12 Player of the Year also led in scoring in conference play in that same season.