Dylan Disu scored 20 points that included four free throws and a dunk in the final 36 seconds as Texas held off Kansas State 62-56 on Monday in a Big 12 Conference clash in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (17-9, 6-7 Big 12) never trailed, shrugging off horrible shooting in the first half to take a five-point lead at halftime that they stretched to 46-35 on a dunk by Dillon Mitchell with 8:10 remaining.
Kansas State used a four-point play and layup by Arthur Kaluma to claw back to within six points with 2:12 left in the game. A pair of free throws by Cam Carter with 50 seconds remaining cut Kansas State’s deficit to four points, but the Wildcats missed shots on their next two possessions. Disu grabbed the rebound both times and canned the ensuing free throws to allow Texas to hold on.
Tyrese Hunter added nine points for the Longhorns and Mitchell grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as Texas won for the third time in its past five games. The Longhorns’ Max Abmas scored eight points to allow him to reach the 3,000-point mark for his career.
Kaluma led Kansas State (15-11, 5-8) with 17 points, while Tylor Perry added 13 and David N’Guessan had 12. The Wildcats have dropped three straight games and seven of their past eight.
Both teams were ragged over the game’s first eight minutes, but Texas got the better of the beginning, forging a 14-7 lead when Brock Cunningham poured in a second-chance 3-pointer at the 12:05 mark of the first half.
The Wildcats cut the deficit to three points on layups by N’Guessan and Carter, the latter with 9:45 to play in the half. Texas pushed the lead back to seven points when Hunter hit three free throws with 3:21 to play before halftime. N’Guessan’s layup with 1:24 remaining ended up providing the final points of the half and brought the Wildcats within 27-22 at the break.
Disu’s eight points before intermission led all scorers while N’Guessan paced the Wildcats with seven points. Both teams were 10 of 31 from the floor (32.3 percent) and combined to go 3 of 22 from beyond the arc, with Kansas State hitting only one of its 10 3-point attempts.
–Field Level Media
