AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Longhorns senior forward Dylan Disu ended the regular season averaging 7.6 points per game, but once the postseason hit, he turned into a bucket machine and is a big reason why the team is in the Sweet 16.

After three terrific games in the Big 12 Conference tournament to lead the Longhorns to the championship, he was named the tournament’s most outstanding player with 44 points, 25 rebounds and a 74% field goal percentage. He wasn’t done, though.

He helped the Longhorns past Colgate in the first round of the NCAA tournament with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and then erupted for a career-high 28 points on 14-of-20 shooting with 10 rebounds against Penn State in a second-round 71-66 win.

Disu, a Pflugerville native and Hendrickson High School grad, is a humble competitor, transferring back home from Vanderbilt before last season. He suffered a knee injury near the end of his time with the Commodores, and it has taken him a while to get back in the swing of things. It appears he’s done just that.

“I feel really confident right now,” Disu said following the Penn State game. “I think it comes from the encouragement of Coach Terry and my teammates. They’re telling me to continue to do what I’m doing for a couple weeks now, and they believe in me.”

He dumped 24 points Feb. 25 against Baylor on a 10-for-15 shooting night, and that’s the only other game he’s had double-digit field goals. But for him to do it in a spot where the guards weren’t shooting well against a great Nittany Lions team, and their March Madness lives hanging in the balance, it was easily Disu’s best game as a Longhorn.

Disu and the Longhorns play third-seeded Xavier at 8:45 p.m. Friday in the Sweet 16 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.