No. 19 Texas Longhorns Top LSU Tigers in Houston as Dylan Disu Returns
The Texas Longhorns got a preview of what SEC play could like next season against the LSU Tigers at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday.
No. 19 Texas (8-2) got big scoring efforts all around and held off LSU's rally in the second half to reach a new season-high team scoring mark in a 96-85 win over the Tigers (6-5).
Max Abmas led the Longhorns with 20 points on four made triples to go along with six rebounds and seven assists while Tyrese Hunter had 19 points of his own. Texas star forward Dylan Disu made his season debut, as he came off the bench to post 17 points, four rebounds and five assists. Dillon Mitchell had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
"It felt great just to be able to play basketball again," Disu said. "It's been a long time. Almost six to seven months. Just being out there was great."
LSU got a game-high 33 points from guard Jordan Wright, who helped led the Tigers back in the second half after trailing by as many as 22 in the first half. The Tigers also got double-digit scoring efforts off the bench from Derek Fountain (13 points), Jalen Cook (13 points) and Hunter Dean (11 points). Former Longhorn and Austin native Will Baker was held to just one point.
Texas Longhorns guard Tyrese Hunter (4) reaches for the ball against LSU Tigers forward Mwani Wilkinson (5) during the first half at Toyota Center.
© Maria Lysaker, USA TODAY
Right out of the gates, the Longhorns built a 15-5 lead behind a trio of 3s from Hunter, Cunningham and Abmas, a windmill dunk from Mitchell and some overall stifling defense. Texas got whatever it wanted in the first half and looked dominant on both ends while doing so.
Heading into halftime with a convincing 56-37 lead, the Longhorns looked well on their way to a blowout win over a SEC foe.
But despite still being in control for the first part of the second half, the Longhorns got sluggish and LSU took full advantage. The Tigers used a 19-7 run to the cut the lead to single digits at 70-63, as momentum had clearly shifted.
However, the Longhorns didn't fold and used late efforts from Disu and Chendall Weaver to help put LSU away.
Texas will head back to Austin to host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday at the Moody Center.
