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Tuesday, March 18, 1997

Longhorns facing fewer critics, more familiar foe

By MICHAEL HOLMES Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN (AP) - After squeaking out a win over little-known Coppin State, Texas faces a more familiar foe Friday night.

Advancing to the East Regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament, the Longhorns (18-11) will play Louisville.

The Cardinals (25-8) dropped Texas in overtime earlier this season when the Longhorns blew a 15-point second-half lead.

But so what?

It's got to be easier than facing crowd favorite Coppin State, a school so small it had to borrow a band, so suddenly popular it got a standing ovation from 17,000 spectators and so tough the Longhorns needed to intercept an inbounds pass with four seconds left to save an 82-81 win.

It's the sweet 16, where Texas hasn't been since 1990, when the Longhorns reached the final eight.

And it's sweet revenge against critics who said a 16-11 record and early departure from the Big 12 tournament had raised questions about the Longhorns' NCAA worthiness.

"Are we still on the bubble?" a vindicated coach Tom Penders asked after the Longhorns rolled over Wisconsin, 71-58, in the opening round.

Texas' defense to the criticism was that it did what the NCAA wanted - scheduled tough opponents. But they didn't play well at season's end, losing by 23 points to Colorado in the last regular season game and then losing to Missouri in its first conference tournament game after a bye.

They need no defense now.

"Just getting in the tournament was the thing. Everyone had a common goal to get to the Final Four. Forget about the season," said guard Reggie Freeman.

Freeman did his part with 31 points against Wisconsin and 22 more against Coppin State.

Now comes Louisville, again.

The Cardinals' win over No. 3 seed New Mexico allowed coach Denny Crum to pass Indiana's Bob Knight for third place on the NCAA tournament coaching victories list.

Louisville won 85-78 in overtime on Jan. 19 in Austin after Eric Johnson tied it with a controversial 3-pointer at the end of regulation.

"It was after the buzzer," Penders said. "It was a heartbreaker."

But so what?

"The only thing I know is that we are the third team from our conference to make it to the Sweet 16, which speaks a lot for our team and program," Penders said.Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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