No. 7 Texas holds Colorado State to 11 points in first half, wins 56-44 to advance to Round 2

Image 1 of 3

▼

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 21: Brock Cunningham #30 of the Texas Longhorns blocks out against Nique Clifford #10 of the Colorado State Rams during the second half in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 21, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Max Abmas and Dylan Disu each scored 12 points, and No. 7 seed Texas held Colorado State to 11 points in the first half en route to a 56-44 victory on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Longhorns (21-12) will meet the winner of second-seeded Tennessee and No. 15 St. Peter’s on Saturday.

Isaiah Stevens and Joel Scott paced the Rams (25-11) with 10 points each. The Rams shot 29% from the field.

Colorado State, which held Virginia to 14 first-half points in their First Four game on Tuesday, jumped out to an 8-2 lead before the wheels came off.

The Rams missed 18 of their next 19 shots and scored just three points over the final 15 1/2 minutes of the first half. Texas closed the half on a 25-3 run to take a 27-11 lead into the locker room after Abmas hit from downtown at the buzzer.

Colorado State became only the 10th team in tournament history to score 11 points or less in the first half. The last time it happened was in 2008 when UNLV led Kent State 31-10 at halftime in a first-round game.

The game was billed as a matchup of two of the nation’s top points guards in Abmas and Stevens, who competed against each other in high school in the Dallas area and went on to have highly productive five-year college careers combining for more than 5,400 points.