USATSI
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Texas senior forward Dylan Disu is day-to-day after the senior was removed early in the No. 2 seed Longhorns’ 83-71 victory vs. No. 3 seed Xavier on Friday in the Midwest Regional semifinals with a bone bruise in his left foot. His availability for Sunday’s regional final against Miami has not been determined.
Disu, a starter, lasted 1 minute, 34 seconds until he was removed following an injury suffered a week ago in preparation for a second-round game against Penn State. Disu was taken to the lockerroom vs. the Musketeers and later returned to the bench in a boot.
“We’ve been working with Dylan all week long,” Texas interim coach Rodney Terry said. “We showed some progress, then took a step back, showed some progress. Nevertheless [the training staff] worked it all week. The last thing you want to do is put a young man out there who is not ready to go full tilt.”
Disu had become one of the most effective players in the tournament leading the Horns in scoring with 22.5 points through two games going into the Sweet 16. The 6-foot-9 senior had been averaging 9.1 points for the season and is the team’s second-leading rebounder (4.5).
Disu told reporters late Friday he hurt the foot during warmups for the Penn State game, but still played, scoring a season-high 28 points against the Nittany Lions. He couldn’t explain why he was able to play Saturday after the initial injury but not so much on Friday night against Xavier.
“We wanted to give him that moment though to start the game [Friday] and have a couple of trips [down the court],” Terry said. “He’s earned the right to be here. We knew we weren’t going to have him very much here tonight.”
Disu was the Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Tournament earlier this month. Missing his length inside didn’t matter to the Horns who got 18 points and nine boards off the bench from senior forward Christian Bishop.
“I’m going to try to play [Sunday]. I’m not ruling myself out,” Disu said. “It’s been getting better. It’s not something to play around with. We’re taking our time.”
Texas is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2006. and is the highest remaining seed.
