Start time: Christian Bishop, Texas men ready for Miami in regional finals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. ― Christian Bishop doesn’t mean to be rude to the dozens of relatives and friends who have shown up to watch him and his Texas teammates play in his hometown this weekend.

But any returned DMs, texts, handshakes or hugs from the senior forward are going to have to wait until the end of the season. Bishop’s been busy during his team’s run to the Elite Eight, and Sunday’s workload looks like his heaviest of the season when the Longhorns take on Miami for a spot in the Final Four.

“Yeah, I saw some of my buddies out there, but they understand that it’s bigger than just this game,” said Bishop, a 6-foot-8 forward who went to high school in the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit. “They all know I'll be able to see them all when I come home.”

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Bishop and the Longhorns hope any planned trips back to Missouri won’t come until next month, after the NCAA has wrapped up one of its wildest tournaments in history. Texas, the highest remaining seed at No. 2, will try to reach its fourth Final Four against a fifth-seeded Miami team that boasts plenty of size, strength and a surge of momentum.

And the Longhorns will try to get there for the first time in 20 years without Dylan Disu, a 6-foot-9 senior who suffered a bone bruise in his left foot against Penn State and played less than two minutes in Friday’s win over Xavier.

Team officials say Disu, Texas’ leading scorer and rebounder in the postseason, is day-to-day, but he’s unlikely to play against Miami. That means Bishop will step into a familiar role as a starter. Bishop, who transferred from Creighton before last season, has started 86 of his 161 career games. He’s started only one game this year, but this season is his first as a reserve since his freshman campaign with Creighton in 2018-19.

Bishop keeps starter's mentality

Bishop might be a backup, but he's kept his starter's mentality.

“You just got to make sure you're on point, and there’s got to be no drop-off,” he said. “I'm not going to be the one to mess it up, so you better believe I'm going to take care of my business.”

Bishop certainly took care of his business in Friday’s win over Xavier, when he came off the bench and scored a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds while playing 24 minutes in Disu’s absence. That performance mirrors his career stats; he’s made 61% of his shots and averaged almost 10 rebounds and more than 15 points per 40 minutes in his five college seasons.

But those stats can’t match the impressive mental approach by Bishop, who didn’t blink when he moved to the Texas bench this season after starting for the Longhorns a year ago.

“He is the guy who's always been very prepared, and he's the guy who has always accepted his role,” Texas senior Timmy Allen said. “He was one of the more dominant guys last year, coming back. And when it came to coming off the bench, he had no shake, he wasn't tripping, and he wasn't worried.

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“So for him to come in and be prepared is no surprise for me. He's the guy who's always ready. He's always paid his dues. He's always in the gym; he’s always working. So I know he's going to come in and be impactful and play defensive and rebound at a high level when he is out there.”

Bishop, a 5-8 guard when he entered high school, says he can do even more, if needed. Before his foot-long growth spurt at West High School in Lee’s Summit, he played point guard and doled out a lot more dimes than swatted shots. If the Longhorns ever get in foul trouble in the backcourt, Bishop joked that he could switch positions.

“I'd be ready for it,” he said with a grin. “But you know, that's not my role right now. And I'm OK with that. But now I'm just trying to enjoy it all. I just do what I got to do for this team.”

Hurricanes will try to pound boards against Texas

Against Miami, that will probably mean patrolling the paint and banging with the Hurricanes’ big men. Miami likes to punish people on the glass behind 6-7, 245-pound Norchad Omier, who’s averaging almost 15 rebounds a game in the NCAA Tournament. The Hurricanes will have a size advantage Sunday, but the Longhorns shrug off any perceived mismatches down low.

“We haven't been the biggest team on the court but maybe just a few times a season,” Texas forward Bock Cunningham said. “But we've got versatile players that can play a bunch of positions, and that’s been a big part of our success.”

And if the Longhorns can continue that success Sunday, especially for Bishop and his hearty contingent of hometown fans?

“It'd be a blessing from God, honestly, just doing it in front of my family,” he said. “You know, not everybody gets to do this type of thing. So I'm just trying to live in the moment and enjoy it.”

Sunday's game

Texas vs. Miami, 4:05 p.m., CBS, 104.9