Texas basketball lost to No. 14 Iowa State at home. Here are three things we saw.

Despite some late heroics from Texas forward Dylan Disu, Iowa State held on for a 70-65 win Tuesday night at Moody Center. Disu scored 22 of his 28 points in the second half to pull Texas (15-8, 4-6 Big 12) within three points several times in the waning moments. But he didn’t get enough help against a suffocating defense from Iowa State (17-5, 6-3), which kept every other Longhorn under wraps in a loss that sapped any momentum seized with last Saturday’s thrilling road win at TCU.

.Here are three things we saw in Texas’ loss:

Texas has to battle a slow start — again

The script seemed familiar. For the third straight game, Texas found itself down double digits in the first half against a ranked team. And for a third time, the Longhorns rallied despite finding itself in a big early hole. But unlike in an overtime loss to Houston on Jan. 29 and Saturday’s win at TCU, Texas couldn’t erase that deficit. The Longhorns had more turnovers than buckets while falling behind 36-19 at the break, and the guard tandem of Max Abmas and Tyrese Hunter — which has started every game this season while combining for almost 30 points per contest — went scoreless while shooting a combined 0-11 before the break.

They said it: “We didn't really play with an edge in that first half, which is something that we feel like we played with the last two games.” — Texas forward Dylan Disu

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Moody Center a morass for Texas in Big 12 play

Prior to the start of this season’s Big 12 campaign, Moody Center had been a fortress for the Longhorns. Texas won 16 of its 17 home games a year ago and all nine of its nonconference home games this season in the sparkling new facility now in its second season as the Longhorns’ home. But Texas has gone just 1-4 in Big 12 games this season, which is the worst home mark in the league. The Longhorns have just three more home games to play: West Virginia on Saturday, Kansas State on Feb. 19 and Oklahoma State on March 2.

They said it: “Whether you're home or away in this league, the most competitive team and the team that comes in and brings that competitive spirit at a high level is going to win games. It's really critical in the Big 12 that you win your home games, because you know how hard it is on the road to win. Our guys understand that; it's not a lack of effort (but) we’ve just got to find a way to get it done (at home)” — Texas coach Rodney Terry

Tyrese Hunter, Ithiel Horton not proving their points

Hunter, a starter since his freshman season at Iowa State in 2021-22, averages 10.7 points for his career, but he’s in a cold stretch that includes 11 total points in the past three games. Ithiel Horton, a graduate guard and first-year Texas player who averages 10.6 points a game for his career, has scored five points or less in nine of the past 10 games while seeing dwindling minutes. Terry knows his team must find more perimeter offense to complement Abmas and Disu, and he says Hunter and Horton need to retain their confidence even without the ball going through the basket. Neither made a shot against Iowa State, and the only points from the pair came on two free throws from Horton.

They said it: “Against these elite-level defenses, it’s really hard to get a lot of good, clean look. So, when you have a clean look, you’ve got to be shot ready to step into that shot and score that basketball because, again, these elite-level defenses are designed to not give you great looks.” — Rodney Terry

Up next: Rematch with West Virginia

Texas will get its first rematch of the season when West Virginia (8-14, 3-6) visits Moody Center on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game. The Mountaineers have yet to win away from their home court, but they did knock off Texas in Morgantown 76-73 on Jan. 13 behind a parade of free throws. West Virginia made 27 of 41 free throws in that game while attempting 20 more foul shots than Texas.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball lost to No. 14 Iowa State. Here are 3 things we saw.