Texas holds off a late Penn State rally to advance to the Sweet 16
Dylan DeSeau scored a season-high 28 points on 14-for-20 shooting, keeping Texas down the stretch after a late Penn State surge and leading the Longhorns to their first territory in 15 years with a 71-66 win in the second round of the Finals. NCAA Tournament Saturday evening.
the 2nd seed Longhorns (28-8) He made only one of his 13 three-point land shots, so Desso turned it into a midrange game. He went 5-for-5 over the last 4 and a half minutes and grabbed 10 rebounds for good measure.
Sir Jabari Rice scored 13 points for Texas, who will play the winner from Pittsburgh-Xavier on Friday in the Midwest Region semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri. The 11th-ranked Panthers and the third-ranked Knights meet on Sunday.
Camryn Winter scored 16 points for the tenth seed Nittany Lyons (23-14), who were coming off their first NCAA Tournament win in 20 years. Jalen Pickett, second team quarterback, scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds with seven turnovers.
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1 Dylan DeSeau of the Texas Longhorns reacts after making a basket against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the second half of the second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 18, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Michael Reeves / Getty Images)
Andrew Funk (12 points) and Seth Lundy (11 points) recovered after a scoreless first half apiece, but the two best Big Ten three-pointers this season combined were 4-for-16. Penn State was 8-for-28 from deep, despite a steady flush For a clean look in the second half.
Most of the outside shots each team relied on in the first round dried up, with the Longhorns leading 31:18 without one until Rice, who scored seven seconds on Thursday, reached for a 55-48 lead.
The Nittany Lions responded 10-0. Myles Dread, the only man with an outside tempo, hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 6:08 left to cut the deficit to one. After Winter gave Penn State its first lead since 4-3 with a pair of free throws, Timmy Allen threw a wild pass into the backcourt for a Texans turnover that Lundy tracked to make the layup 58-55.
Texas guard Terese Hunter (4) celebrates with teammate Ser Jabari Rice (10) in the first half of the second-round college basketball game against Penn State in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 18, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. ((AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
The outspoken abbreviation of Verleigh Dickinson is entering the internet’s post-March frenzy
But Desso came back with three straight baskets, layups, crossovers, and converted to put Texas back for good. Wynter repeatedly got a crucial call after a timeout with 1:59 remaining, which Marcus Carr followed up with a layup for Texas.
Carr fouled Lundy on a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left on a four-point play that made it a one-possession game, but Carr finished the game with a pair of free throws. After the final horn, Allen smiles big as he approaches Rice for a hug and exclaims, “Sweet 16, baby!”
The last time Texas reached a regional semifinal was in 2008 and they haven’t made a Final Four since 2003. Interim coach Rodney Terry has been an assistant on that team, and the tight-knit Longhorns have made no secret of their love of humility and the rough-and-tumble boss who took over in December instead. of Chris Beard in the fallout from a domestic violence charge that has since been dropped.
No “D” for DISU
The Nittany Lions did a good job defending a Texans who scored 13-for-23 from 3-point range in the first round, but Disu was a different story. Deso comes from Pflugerville, Texas, just outside of Austin, and joined the Longhorns last season after starting his professional career at Vanderbilt.
Named the Big 12 Tournament Most Valuable Player, Disu is the tallest player at 6-foot-9 on this guard-dominated team. His long arms and ability to softly land those rainbow floats in and around the paint, a skill he recently added to his game, makes him a bigger play than he is.
Texas forward Dylan DeSeau celebrates after making a basket in the second half of a first-round college basketball game against Colgate in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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Safety perimeter
The Longhorns pulled off Colgate’s best three-point shooting in their first round victory, when the Raiders scored 3-for-15 from long range.
Penn State presented the same surrounding threat, ranked fifth in the country and came away clinicing 13-for-23 in a first-round win over Texas A&M. The Nittany Lions broke the Big Ten single-season scoring record for 3-pointers made.
This Texans defense sure has some sharp teeth. The Longhorns held their five previous opponents, including twice Kansas and TCU, to average 57 points per game. Funk sprinted off the right wing for a three-pointer just 14 seconds into the game that hit the front of the rim, a sign of how the night was going. Carr, Rice and Tyrese Hunter took turns following him.
