Longhorns Lead Penn State at Halftime Behind 12 Points from Dylan Disu

After a stellar first half from forward Dylan Disu, the Texas Longhorns took a lead headed into halftime on Saturday against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Round of 32 at March Madness.

DES MOINES, IOWA - After lights-out shooting displays in their opening-round games, the Texas Longhorns and Penn State Nittany Lions found themselves locked into an first-half defensive battle through the first 20 minutes of Saturday's March Madness matchup in the Round of 32 at Wells Fargo Arena.

But after a late offensive spurt from forward Dylan Disu, the Longhorns took a 31-23 lead headed into the locker room.

The second-seeded Longhorns were paced by a first-half-high 12 points from Disu, along with seven points and eight rebounds from forward Timmy Allen. Guards Tyrese Hunter, Marcus Carr and Sir'Jabari Rice all had four points apiece.

Penn State saw just four players score in the first half led by guard Camren Wynter, who had 10 points. Guard Jalen Pickett had five points and seven rebounds while guard Myles Dread hit a pair of triples, the only two makes from deep by either team in the first half.

Disu started getting to his offensive spots early with four points to give Texas a 5-4 lead. Both he and Allen were getting busy on the boards with tip-backs to the guards on missed shots, helping create three offensive rebounds for Texas within the first five minutes.

After both teams hit 13 triples in their first-round games, the two sides both started out 0 for 5 from deep on Saturday. Despite missing a handful of open looks from beyond the arc, it was Texas who took advantage in the interior and built an 11-6 edge.

But overall, both teams were cold offensively through the first 10 minutes, shooting a combined 9 of 33 from the field.

The Nittany Lions then tied the game up at 11-11 after the Longhorns had gone almost four minutes without a field goal.

The cold spell finally ended for Texas after Hunter, Rice and Allen each scored inside to bring the lead to 17-13.

Suddenly, both teams were picking it up on offense. Disu showed nice touch with a baseline floater before Pickett found Myles Dread for a corner triple. Allen then nailed another jumper, giving him seven points to lead the Horns. The two teams had now combined for eight made field goals in a little under a three-minute span after making just nine in the first 10 minutes.

But, with Texas leading 23-20, the Nittany Lions scored just three points in the final 3:42 of the half. The Longhorns took advantage on the offensive end to give themselves more comfort in a game that had been tight throughout the first 20 minutes.

Disu started to pick up where he had left off at the start of the game, hitting three field goals in the final three minutes to help give Texas a bit of breathing room.

Carr put the finishing touches on the half by beating the buzzer with a mid-range jumper to send the Longhorns to the locker room with their biggest lead of the game at that point.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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