Rodney Terry says 'Texas is back where we need to be' after defeating Penn State to advance to Sweet 16

For the first time in more than a decade, Texas is headed to the Sweet 16. And after outlasting a feisty Penn State squad in the Round of 32, interim Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry made a bold proclamation.

In short: Texas is back, but with a little more nuance. Specifically, Terry said Texas is back to where it belongs and “where we need to be.” It’s about the Longhorns meeting their own expectations for what the program can be.

“We’re back in the Sweet 16 where we belong,” Terry said to TNT’s Allie LaForce. “Texas is back where we need to be and we’re excited about more.”

In the Sweet 16, Texas will face the winner between No. 3 seed Xavier and No. 11 seed Pittsburgh. And ideally for Terry and his squad, it’ll end up with a trip to the Elite Eight, where they surely want Texas to belong, too.

To get it done against Penn State, Terry urged his squad to limit and stymy the offensive impact of Jalen Pickett, the leading scorer and most impactful player for the Nittany Lions. Terry knew it wasn’t going to be possible to stop him entirely, and was content with merely minimizing the damage he could do.

“Pickett’s a really, really good player. We’re just trying to do a great job of containing him tonight. You’re not going to shut a great player like him down, but we gotta do a job of having our team guard and continue to work really hard on this end of the floor defensively,” Terry said

Ultimately, the Longhorns did enough to keep Pickett off kilter. He scored 11 points but did so on an inefficient 5-for-13 shooting performance. Pickett added 10 rebounds but also coughed up seven turnovers. All-in-all, about as good as Terry could’ve asked for.

On the other side, Dylan Disu starred for Texas. The big man put in a career performance with 28 points and 10 rebounds, including a clutch stretch of baskets to retake and hold the lead late. It’s the second-most points scored by a Texas player in a postseason game, behind only Kevin Durant. A pretty good outing for Disu.

“Just my teammates and coach [Terry] and the whole coaching staff encouraging me to get to my spots and take open shots,” Disu said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do and my teammates have been finding me. They’ve been amazing. I couldn’t do it without them.”