Max Abmas poured in 20 points and Dylan Disu added 17 points in his first game action of the season to help No. 19 Texas to a 96-85 win over LSU on Saturday afternoon in the Halal Guys Showcase in Houston.
Texas (8-2) led by 19 points after a prodigious 56-point first half and by 22 soon after halftime before the Tigers closed to within 70-63 midway through the second half. But that’s as close as LSU would get as Texas turned to its inside-out attack to go back up by double digits and hold the Tigers at bay.
Disu was a huge factor for the Longhorns after missing their first nine games after offseason foot surgery. Tyrese Hunter added a season-high 19 points for Texas, which also got 12 points and 10 rebounds from Dillon Mitchell.
Jordan Wright led the Tigers (6-5) with a career-high 33 points, with all but two coming after halftime. LSU’s four other starters combined for four points.
Reserves Jalen Cook and Derek Fountain hit for 13 each and Hunter Dean had 11 for LSU.
The Longhorns scored the first five points and built a 15-5 lead five minutes into the game when Abmas hit a 3-pointer. LSU cut its deficit to seven points on Dean’s three-point play with 12:16 to play in the first half.
Texas was unfazed, pushing its advantage to 16 points as Abmas canned another shot from beyond the arc at the 8:22 mark.
A pair of free throws by Disu with 1:25 left in the half expanded the Longhorns’ advantage to 20 points but was quickly answered by a 3-pointer from Dean. Disu’s last-second dunk sent the Longhorns to the break ahead 56-37.
Hunter led all scorers with 13 points before halftime while Mitchell added 10 points and took eight rebounds in the half. Dean kept the Tigers within reach with 11 points in the half as LSU’s bench scored all but five of its points before the break.
LSU worked its way back into the game over the initial 10 minutes of the second half, using an 8-0 run to closing to within 70-63 when Wright had a steal and a layup with 9:34 to play.
The Longhorns quickly rebuilt their advantage to 14 points on two free throws each from Disu and Mitchell and a 3-pointer by Abmas.
–Field Level Media