Three Point Play: No. 10 Texas runs away from Oklahoma State via smart shooting in 89-75 win
Two teams in the top 25 of KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency duked it out at the Moody Center on Tuesday night and combined to score 164 points and make 55 total field goals less than a month after combining to score only 102.
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No. 10 Texas, thanks to double-digit scoring efforts from Marcus Carr, Timmy Allen, Dylan Disu, and a career-high 15 points from Brock Cunningham, held the Oklahoma State Cowboys at bay for nearly the entire second half with the margin never getting smaller than six in a 89-75 win.
Carr had a game-high 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting in 36 minutes. Allen had 17 points and six rebounds. Disu had 12 points and eight rebounds and was a factor on both ends of the floor, blocking two shots and stealing the ball three times in 20 minutes of play.
Cunningham was an efficient 5-of-6 from the field, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. He was +17 in 24 minutes, topped only by Carr’s +18 mark. Plus, the glue guy had a steal, a block, and five rebounds.
For the game, Texas shot 51 percent, was 8-of-13 from three, and 23-of-27 from the line. Texas made it to the double-bonus in both halves and was effective on offense with the clock rolling and with it stopped.
Small-ball brings it home
With about nine minutes left in the second half and his team holding onto an eight-point lead, interim head coach Rodney Terry made the decision to go small. It was a decision that was partially forced by foul trouble from Disu and Christian Bishop, and partially available due to the lack of Mousse Cissa for the Cowboys.
Terry used a lineup that had Carr, Allen, Cunningham, Tyrese Hunter, and Dillon Mitchell on the floor. Eventually, Sir’Jabari Rice replaced Mitchell, and Cunningham moved to the five.
When Rice replaced Mitchell, there was 6:39 left and the Longhorns held a 71-61 lead. OSU cut it to eight on one occasion, but Texas made the lead double-digits with 5:01 left and it never dropped down below 10 for the rest of the contest.
Cissa’s absence certainly was key in the Longhorns’ ability to stay small, but that Texas lineup had the right combination of offensive flow, shot-making, and free-throw acumen to help Texas cruise home to the double-digit win.
The Cowboys had several valiant heaves from deep that found the bottom of the net, and their late-game press did cause some problems for the Longhorn ball-handlers. Even so, Texas’ small lineup was too much for OSU on Tuesday for a host of reasons, and most of them were on the offensive end.
Punishing fouls and hitting open shots
Too often, Texas has been punished by opponents’ ability to get to the line while remaining unable to force the issue on offense and get to the stripe themselves.
That was not the case on Tuesday, as the Longhorns were 23-of-27 from the line and 19-of-20 in the second half.
Texas was quickly in the bonus in both halves, but only made use of it on a handful of occasions in the first 20 minutes. The second 20 was far different, and it wasn’t the result of the Cowboys fouling to stay in the game as much as it was the Longhorns forcing the issue on offense and making a team in foul trouble stay in foul trouble.
Every Longhorn save Bishop, who played just seven minutes, made at least one free throw. The solid shooting wasn’t limited to the stripe, either.
Texas was smart with its choice of shots from behind the arc and converted a significant majority of them. UT finished 8-of-13 from deep with Cunningham’s 3-for-3 clip pacing the effort. Compare that to Oklahoma State’s night from three, which was an ugly 8-for-26 distributed evenly across both halves.
89 points against one of the conference’s, and country’s, best defenses wasn’t the result of dumb luck nor one defender’s absence. Accurate shooting thanks to good looks made via smart offense (two total fastbreak points for Texas) carried Terry’s team to the 14-point win.
Dylan Disu on a tear
The 6-foot-9 Pflugerville product has scored at least 10 points in four of the last five games, including his 12 points and 8 rebounds on Tuesday night.
Disu’s buckets aren’t cheapies. He’s making smart decisions with his shots from around the free-throw line, the elbow, and the high post and converting them at a good clip.
Oddly enough, despite the strong shooting night, Texas was 9-for-20 on layups and didn’t attempt a single dunk. Disu’s 5-of-13 night from the field had a lot to do with that weird close-range shot statistic.
But he’s been a significant factor in the past three games, and on both ends of the floor at that.
His efforts on Tuesday were key in completing the season sweep of the Cowboys.
Texas improves to 17-3 and 6-2 in conference play, placing the Longhorns in a three-way tie for first with Kansas State and Iowa State. UT travels to Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday as part of the Big 12-SEC Challenge to face the Tennessee Volunteers.
