Dylan Disu registered a game-high 20 points to lead Texas (17-9, 6-7 Big 12) to a hard-fought 62-56 victory over Kansas State (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) on Monday night before a sellout crowd at Moody Center. Graduate guard Max Abmas had eight points on the evening and became just the 12th player in NCAA Division I men’s history to reach the 3,000-point milestone.
Disu hit 5-of-11 field goals and a collegiate career-best 10-of-11 free throws while adding eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block in 30 minutes. Sophomore forward Dillon Mitchell posted a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with eight points, two blocks and two steals in 31 minutes, reaching the double-digit mark in boards for the 12th time this season. Junior guard Tyrese Hunter recorded nine points and tied a season high with seven rebounds in 37 minutes.
Abmas, who reached the 3,000-point milestone on a foul-line jumper with 14:04 left in the second half, is just the third player in NCAA Division I men’s history to record both 3,000 points and 500 assists. He currently has 3,002 points and 510 assists in 149 career games. Abmas joins Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy (3,664 points and 593 assists) and Keydren Clark of Saint Peter’s (3,058 points and 501 assists) in the exclusive club.
Texas used an outstanding defensive performance en route to the win. The Longhorns held K-State to 56 points on 35.7-percent (20-56) field goal shooting, including a 5-of-19 (.263) mark from three-point range.
After Texas scored the opening four points of the contest, an Arthur Kaluma layup evened the score at 4-4 at the 17:06 mark. After a Tylor Perry three-pointer trimmed the margin to 8-7 with 13:29 remaining, the Longhorns scored six straight points to grab a 14-7 advantage following a Brock Cunningham three-pointer at the 12:05 mark.
A pair of Disu free throws gave Texas a 27-20 cushion with 1:52 left, before a David N’guessan layup at the 1:24 mark cut the gap to 27-22 entering the break. Texas limited K-State to 22 points on 32.3-percent (10-31) field goal shooting, including a 1-of-10 (.100) mark from three-point range, in the opening 20 minutes.
A Kadin Shedrick jump hook gave the Longhorns a 33-26 advantage at the 15:22 mark, but K-State responded by scoring five straight points to trim the deficit to 33-31 following a N’guessan jumper with 14:24 left. Texas answered with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to build a 40-31 cushion after a Hunter layup at the 12:36 mark. The Longhorns increased their advantage to 46-35 following a Mitchell dunk with 8:10 remaining. The Wildcats used a 7-2 spurt over the next three minutes to cut the gap to 48-42 after a N’guessan layup at the 5:00 mark.
Texas responded by scoring six straight points to take a 54-42 lead following a pair of Chendall Weaver free throws with 3:21 left, before K-State answered with a 6-0 run in span of just over a minute to trim the margin to 54-48 after a Kaluma layup at the 2:12 mark. The Wildcats closed to within four points (56-52) following a pair of Cam Carter free throws with 50 seconds remaining, but that was as close as K-State could get down the stretch. Disu went 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the final 36 seconds to seal the victory.
Texas is back in action when it travels to face No. 9/10 Kansas on Saturday, Feb. 24. Tip is scheduled for 5 p.m. Central at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.