Texas beats Colorado State behind dominant first-half defense

On nights when one of graduates Dylan Disu or Max Abmas shot isn’t falling, it’s typically bad news. On nights when both are off, it can get ugly.

But on Thursday it didn’t make a difference, as the seventh-seeded Longhorns survived a brutal second half to defeat 10th-seeded Colorado State in spite of quiet nights from its leading scorers to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

If the first five minutes of the game were any indication of the outcome it would’ve been bleak for Texas, which got off to a poor start, down 8-2 through five minutes with no semblance of rhythm offensively. Head Coach Rodney Terry pulled the plug on his starters, though, bringing in the bench after just five minutes and igniting a dominant stretch of basketball.

After the Rams smothered Virginia’s offense in their First Four win to secure the No. 10 seed, they received a taste of their own medicine from the Longhorns. Texas got off to a sloppy start defensively, ceding eight quick points in the paint, but allowed just one basket in the first half’s final 15 minutes to hold Colorado State to 11 first-half points on 5-of-27 shooting.

Despite shooting below 40% from the floor, Texas entered the second half up 16 points, with Abmas nailing a three in the closing seconds from the logo. Colorado State seized the momentum in the second half, taking advantage of a dreadful Texas offense to cut the lead to seven points at the 8:28 mark. However, the Rams were unable to sustain the run, and consecutive and-ones from Disu and sophomore Chendall Weaver within five minutes pushed the lead back to a dozen and helped propel the Longhorns to a double-digit win.

Disu finally got going offensively in crunch time, but it was a forgettable night overall. The forward seemed to be forcing his shot all night, going 5-of-18 from the field and 0-of-6 from three-point range, and he struggled again to stay out of foul trouble. He will need to flush this game from his system quickly to give Texas a chance on Saturday.

As he has all year, Weaver came up big for Texas in the win. He was the most athletic player on the court, hanging in the air for a number of tough finishes, hounding Colorado State’s guards defensively all night and chipping in hustle plays when it counted. He finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting in a promising March Madness debut.

While it was ugly, the Longhorns found a way to win on a night where the offense was out of sorts and prevented a second-half collapse that would have looked similar to the one they suffered against Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament. However, Texas will be lucky to advance further if it posts similar offensive slogs.

Texas will play Saturday against the No. 2 Tennessee with a chance to move on to Detroit for the Sweet Sixteen on the line.