SASSER GUTS IT OUT FOR COUGS

When Marcus Sasser felt the occasional twinge in his groin, he simply blocked it out. With so much on the line, he was determined to stay on the court for topseeded Houston.

Now, he’s got a few more days to recuperate before the Sweet 16.

Tramon Mark scored a career-best 26 points and Sasser added 22 — including five 3-pointers — as the Cougars stif led local favorite Auburn in the second half for an 81-64 victory at the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala.

The Cougars (33-3) wiped out a 10-point halftime deficit, returning after the break with a chip on their shoulders.

“We came out on fire,” Mark said. “Everything was clicking for us in the second half.”

Essentially shutting down the lane, Houston played with the desperation of a national championship contender that wasn’t ready to suffer the same fate as Purdue and Kansas — No. 1s that already were sent home.

Houston advanced to face either No. 4 Indiana or No. 5 Miami, which play today, at the Sweet 16 in Kansas City, Mo.

All eyes were on Sasser at the start of the game as he continued to deal with a groin injury that forced him to sit out the second half of Houston’s NCAA opener. But the All-american was determined to go all the way in this one.

The only thing that sent him to the bench was foul trouble, not the groin.

“I probably felt it a couple of times,” said Sasser, who played nearly 31 minutes. “But it was pain I could go through and keep pushing.”

No. 2 Texas 71, No. 10 Penn State 66: Dylan Disu had a season-high 28 points on 14-for-20 shooting, steadying Texas down the stretch after a late Penn State surge and leading the Longhorns to their first regional in 15 years.

The second-seeded Longhorns (28-8) made just one of 13 shots from 3-point land, so Disu turned this one into a mid-range game. He went 5-for-5 over the final 41⁄2 minutes and grabbed 10 rebounds for good measure at Des Moines, Iowa.

Sir’jabari Rice scored 13 points for Texas, which will play the Pittsburgh-xavier winner on Friday in the Midwest Region semifinals in Kansas City, Mo. The 11thseeded Panthers and thirdseeded Musketeers meet today.

Camren Wynter had 16 points for the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions (23-14), who were coming off their first NCAA Tournament victory in 20 years. Second-team Allamerican Jalen Pickett had 11 points and 10 rebounds with seven turnovers.

Texas last went to the regional semifinal in 2008 and hasn’t made the Final Four since 2003. Interim coach Rodney Terry was an assistant on that team, and the strong-bonded Longhorns have made no secret of their love for their unassuming, raspy-voiced leader who took over in December for Chris Beard in the fallout from a since-dropped domestic violence charge.