DES MOINES, Iowa – After more than 2,000 career points, Timmy Allen no longer gets his hoops fulfillment from filling up the stat sheet.

Now in his fifth year of college basketball, the 23-year-old team leader for the Texas men’s basketball is all about winning before his time in college basketball winds all the way down.

“I don’t have anything to prove,” Allen said after a Friday practice session at Wells Fargo Arena, where the Longhorns will face Penn State in an NCAA Tournament second-round game Saturday evening. "I want to come in and read the game at a high level, play the game with a high IQ, and make the game easier for my teammates.”

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Allen has certainly done that even though he’s scoring the fewest points of a career that incudes three years at Utah and the past two seasons as Texas. He’s emerged as a defensive stopper for Texas who often matches up against the opponent’s top threat on the wing, and his offensive game has become more complementary even while the points drop.

Allen scored in double digits in 10 of the Longhorns’ first 12 Big 12 games this season, but he’s adapted his game as players such as Tyrese Hunter and Dylan Disu have taken on larger roles. He’s only topped 10 points once in the past seven games, and he took a season-low two shots in Thursday’s 81-61 win over Colgate in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

But Allen has averaged 4.3 assists a game while helping Texas average 75 points per contest in that seven-game span. Sitting out the three games in the Big 12 Tournament while nursing a sore leg also helped understand what’s best for the team, he said.

“Missing those three games while watching the teamwork, I'm not trying to come in and be a pig,” he said. “I'm not thirsty to score. Seeing Dylan and other guys thrive is not something that makes me envious or hungrier to score. I kind of just take the time to play off them and let the game come to me.”

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Guard Marcus Carr, a fellow senior who runs the point for Texas, says Allen’s value has only increased while becoming as much a facilitator as a scorer.

“You need to be aggressive on offense,” Carr said. “And of course, that doesn't always mean shooting the ball. So he (Allen) is out there making plays for us on both ends of the floor, and that’s all that really matters to us. We also know that he's able to step up in big moments and give us baskets, as well.”

Of course, stopping baskets may be the most important thing Allen does against Penn State. He’ll likely spend much of the game matched up with point guard Jalen Pickett, the engine for a Penn State team that has won nine of its past 11 games.

Everything the Nittany Lions do runs through Pickett, a physical 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard from the hoops-mad city of Rochester, New York, who’s the closest thing college basketball has to a triple-double threat this season. Pickett averages 17.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. No other player in the NCAA puts up at last 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists per contest.

"He's a big-time player," Texas interim head coach Rodney Terry said about the Penn State star. "He can score the ball, pass the ball, makes the other guys around him better."

That may sound familiar to Allen, who appreciates what Pickett does for his team. Like Pickett, Allen is a 23-year-old college hoops veteran competing at his second school. And like Pickett, Allen doesn’t shy away from getting physical while looking for his shot — which usually comes from the midrange for both players.

“I think he's a great player,” Allen said. “We've broken down some of this film. He's a guy who does a lot for them, rebounding the ball, scoring the ball, passing the ball. That's something I admire. I feel like I'm kind of that way, too. So I like the matchup. He's a great player, and I'm just trying to make him uncomfortable as much as I can."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas' Timmy Allen doing what it takes to win in NCAA Tournament