Strong defense leads Texas past Colorado State

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

CHARLOTTE — It was not pretty, but that doesn’t matter in March.

Texas only shot 40 percent from the field, but the Longhorns turned in an elite defensive performance, holding Colorado State to just 11 first-half points in a 56-44 win.

Both teams struggled to start the game, but a putback by Joel Scott gave the Rams an 8-2 lead at the first media stoppage. Chendall Weaver snapped the skid for the Longhorns as Texas clawed back to 8-7 at the 11:30 mark, before taking the lead on a layup by Brock Cunningham. Tyrese Hunter followed with a three-point play. Dillon Mitchell added a putback as Texas was in the midst of a 12-0 run, going up by a 14-8 margin with 8:01 left in the first half. Mitchell also threw down a dunk before Joe Palmer hit a three for the Rams to stop the bleeding for Colorado State, but by that time, the Rams trailed, 20-11.

A fast break dunk by Hunter brought the Texas crowd to its feet. Max Abmas added a jumper and a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to establish a 27-11 halftime lead.

Isaiah Stevens hit a 3 to open the second half for Colorado State, and also canned a mid-range jumper, but the Rams still trailed, 31-17. Abmas extended the lead with a layup, but Jalen Lake hit a three later in the half to pull Colorado State within 11, at 35-24.

Nique Clifford hit another three for the Rams, whose deficit dipped below double digits, at 35-27. Texas answered quickly to extend its advantage to a dozen points with 10:14 left in the contest.

After a long scoreless drought by both teams, Colorado State’s Josiah Strong hit a three. The teams traded a trio of buckets before Scott scored on a layup. Dylan Disu answered with a bucket for Texas to make the tally 47-38 heading to the final media timeout. Weaver followed with a big three-point play for the Longhorns, and Texas was able to salt the game away from the foul line.

MERRY ABMAS: There were not many big offensive numbers, but Max Abmas and Dylan Disu scored 12 points each. Every time Colorado State made a run, one of those players would hit a clutch bucket.

“It’s really just a carryover from the Big XII Tournament,” Abmas said. “This was a tough, physical game, but we were prepared for it. Now we have to just keep it going.”

TOO MANY TURNOVERS: Colorado State coach Niko Medved was proud of his team’s effort to get back in the game, but added that the Rams had just too big a hill to climb in the second half.

“When you have 19 turnovers, it’s hard to come back against any team,” he said. “Much less a team like Texas. Defensively, we played more than well enough to win the game. It just wasn’t our night because we gave them too many extra chances with the turnovers. It’s hard to look big picture right now because we are so disappointed, but we had a great season.”

UP NEXT: Texas will advance to play the winner of Saint Peter’s and Tennessee on Saturday’s nightcap.