Texas cruises into Elite Eight

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyrese Hunter scored 19 points, Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop added 18 apiece, and secondseeded Texas rolled to an 83-71 victory over No. 3 seed Xavier on Friday night to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years.

Playing most of the way without ailing star Dylan Disu, the Longhorns — the highest seed left after No. 1s Alabama and Houston lost earlier in the night — built a 42-25 lead by halftime. They quickly pushed it past 20 before cruising the rest of the way into a Midwest Region final matchup with fifth-seeded Miami on Sunday night for a spot in the Final Four in Houston.

Sir’Jabari Rice had 16 points and Timmy Allen added 11 for the Longhorns (29-8), who kept Souley Boum and the rest of Xavier’s perimeter threats in check while making life miserable for Jack Nunge down low.

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Kunkel hit five 3-pointers and led the Musketeers (27-10) with 21 points. Nunge scored 15 but needed 19 shots to get there.

The job the Longhorns did in shutting down Xavier was merely the latest example of some masterful work by interim head coach Rodney Terry. The longtime assistant took over in December, when Chris Beard was suspended and later fired over a sincedropped domestic violence charge. Terry not only has kept the season from falling apart, but also has sent his team soaring.

Things won’t get any easier against Miami, which romped to an 89-75 win over the Cougars.

And especially without Disu, who led the Longhorns to a Big 12 tourney title. He tried to play through a left foot injury that the Longhorns had successfully kept secret Friday night, but he lasted only a couple of minutes before limping off the floor and straight to the locker room. When he returned to the bench, he was wearing a big walking boot, a black hoodie and a grim expression on his face.