KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KXAN) — Down one of their stars in the postseason, the Texas Longhorns didn’t waver and plowed past the Xavier Musketeers 83-71 in the Sweet 16 on Friday at T-Mobile Center.
Texas, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, will take on No. 5 seed Miami on Sunday in the Elite Eight for a spot in the Final Four. The Hurricanes upset No. 1 seed Houston 89-75, and all four No. 1 seeds in the tournament were eliminated before the Elite Eight.
Texas forward Timmy Allen drives to the basket past Xavier forward Jerome Hunter in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas head coach Rodney Terry yells in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game against Xavier in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas forward Timmy Allen shoots over Xavier forward Jerome Hunter in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas forward Christian Bishop celebrates after scoring in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game against Xavier in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Xavier forward Jerome Hunter vies for the ball with Texas forward Christian Bishop in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas guard Marcus Carr scores past Xavier forward Jerome Hunter in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Texas forward Christian Bishop shoots over Xavier forward Jack Nunge in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Xavier guard Colby Jones scores against Texas in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Xavier guard Desmond Claude shoots over Texas forward Timmy Allen in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Xavier guard Desmond Claude shoots over Texas forward Timmy Allen in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas forward Christian Bishop shoots over Xavier forward Cesare Edwards in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Xavier head coach Sean Miller yells in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game against Texas in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Texas forward Timmy Allen looks to pass against Xavier in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas guard Marcus Carr celebrates after scoring against Xavier in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas guard Marcus Carr drives to the basket past Xavier guard Souley Boum in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Texas forward Christian Bishop shoots over Xavier forward Cesare Edwards in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Xavier guard Adam Kunkel vies for the ball with Texas guard Marcus Carr in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas guard Marcus Carr shoots past Xavier forward Jerome Hunter in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Xavier guard Colby Jones shoots over Texas forward Timmy Alle in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Xavier guard Souley Boum shoots against Texas in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Fans celebrate in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game between Xavier and Texas in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Xavier forward Jack Nunge shoots over Texas guard Arterio Morris in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas guard Marcus Carr scores against Xavier in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Texas forward Christian Bishop shoots past Xavier forward Jack Nunge in the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Xavier forward Jack Nunge shoots over Texas forward Christian Bishop in the second half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas guard Sir’Jabari Rice shoots over Xavier guard Adam Kunkel in the second half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Xavier forward Jerome Hunter scores past Texas guard Arterio Morris in the second half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament Friday, March 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The Longhorns were without Dylan Disu, who has been the team’s star for the past five games, for most of the game. He came into the game with a bone bruise on his foot and tried to play on it but aggravated it early in the first half. He went to the locker room and came out with a walking boot on after just two minutes on the floor.
Terry said the training staff has been working with Disu all week long to try to get him ready, but Terry knew Disu wouldn’t play much because of the injury.
“We won’t put him out there until he’s full tilt and ready to go,” Terry said. “I wanted to give him that moment and have a couple of trips down the floor because he’s earned the right to play in a regional. He’s carried us at times this year, and tonight the guy had his back.”
With the win, Texas is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008.
Even without Disu, the Longhorns’ defense was tremendous against a Xavier team that typically shoots well. Xavier shot 49.3% from the field for the season, but Texas clamped down on the Musketeers and held them to 29% shooting in the first half and 44% for the game.
“I thought we played one of our better defensive games all year tonight,” Longhorns interim head coach Rodney Terry said. “Xavier plays with great pace, but I’m proud of my guys on how they put their will into this game from start to finish.”
Allen banked in a shot from halfcourt with less than a second remaining in the first half to give the Longhorns a 42-25 halftime lead. It was his third made 3-pointer of the season. The Longhorns never trailed in the game.
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Whenever Xavier started to make a move in the second half, Texas always had a response. The Musketeers had Texas’ lead down to 14 points after a Souley Boum jumper with 12:56 remaining, but the Longhorns went on a 10-0 run to squelch any thought of another Xavier rally. Five different players scored for the Longhorns during the key run that ended after a Brock Cunninghams foul shot with 10:49 left.
Xavier’s Colby Jones hit a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to account for the final score, and that was as close as the Musketeers came to the Longhorns in the second half.
Five players scored in double figures for the Longhorns. Tyrese Hunter led the way with 19 points while Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop each scored 18 points. Bishop also pulled in a team-high nine rebounds in 24 minutes to help fill in for Disu. Jabari Rice poured in 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting and Allen chipped in 11 points.
Adam Kunkel played a tremendous second half for the Musketeers and scored 21 points. He had 13 points in the second half and missed just two shots the whole night. Jack Nunge scored 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds. Souley Boum, the Musketeers’ leading scorer coming into the game, had two points from the foul line and was 0-for-6 from the field in the first half. He finished with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
“We did a really good job not letting them get separation,” Terry said. “Tyrese was terrific early in the game on Boum, not letting him get to his sweet spots. We did a great job guarding their perimeter players, and every guy came in and played hard defensively.”
Terry said Disu is day-to-day with his injury, but he didn’t sound confident that Disu would be ready for Sunday against the Hurricanes.
“This has been a very resilient team all year long,” Terry said. “We’ve been in this position before. When you play in the Big 12, you’ve battle-tested all year long. Foul trouble, an injured guy, you just keep working the game for 40 minutes.”