KANSAS CITY — Texas center Dylan Disu, who averaged 22.5 points in his first two NCAA tournament games, is day-to-day with a foot injury as the Longhorns prepare to face Miami in the Elite Eight on Sunday.
Disu started the game but played just two minutes in his team’s 83-71 win over Xavier Musketeers on Friday, which was not unexpected, according to Rodney Terry.
Terry said Disu only played against the Musketeers because he wanted to reward him for his hard work and give him a chance to play in a regional. Disu spent the bulk of the game on the bench with a boot on his left foot.
“We’ve been working with Dylan all week long, and we showed some good progress,” Terry said after the game. “And then we take a step back, showed some progress. … The last thing you want to do is put a young man out there that’s not ready to go full tilt. I wanted to give him that moment, though, to start the game and have a couple trips because he’s worked so hard and he’s earned the right to be here in a regional and play in a regional.”
Terry said Disu suffered the injury in the team’s win over Penn State in the second round. He said the team entered Friday knowing he wouldn’t be available for the full game.
“We really wanted to play for him,” said Marcus Carr, who scored 18 points in the win. “We knew how much this would mean for him. We all got emotional in there just knowing he wouldn’t be out there. We all knew the job we had to do for him.”