PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Friday, March 21, 1997

Longhorns long to atone for heartbreaking loss to Louisville

By JOHN KEKIS

Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - If Texas remains one of the surprise teams still left in the NCAA tournament, it shouldn't be a surprise any longer. Paybacks have a way of motivating.

These Longhorns (18-11), seeded 10th, have longed for this moment - a rematch tonight against sixth-seeded Louisville (25-8) in the East Regional semifinals.

"When we first looked at the draw, we said overall it was pretty good for the University of Texas," Texas guard Brandy Perryman said Thursday after a shootaround. "And then Louisville two games down the road - if we got that far. The first game sticks in the back of your mind, and knowing that you'll get another chance at them."

The Cardinals won that first game, 85-78 in overtime, overcoming a 15-point deficit in front of the hometown Texas crowd in mid-January. Eric Johnson sent it into the extra period with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the ringing hasn't stopped. The Longhorns thought time had expired.

"We made some mistakes down at the end and Louisville took advantage of every one," Texas coach Tom Penders said. "Whether that's an advantage for us or them, I don't know."

Texas, making its second Sweet 16 appearance since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, didn't let the defeat put a damper on its season.

"We had Oklahoma coming up the next game," Penders said. "We didn't have time to feel sorry for ourselves. I thought it would be good for them to feel that they won the game, not to get down in the dumps.

"This team has been so resilient all year. We've never had a stretch where we had more than two losses in a row. It could have been one of those devastating losses because we had a lead and we didn't take care of the lead."

The Longhorns have since figured that part out. They got here by protecting a tenuous 82-81 lead over Coppin State. Reggie Freeman swatted away a shot by Danny Singletary with four seconds left and DeJuan Vazquez intercepted the ensuing inbounds pass to send the Longhorns on.

"We've gotten all of our mistakes out of the way," said Freeman, who is averaging 25.5 points, seven rebounds and 4.5 assists in the last four games.

"The last couple of games we haven't been doing the same thing. We've been focused and doing the right things. During the season, playing against good teams, we probably gave it up when we shouldn't."

Stopping Freeman will be Louisville's biggest task.

"He's a great one-on-one player," Louisville guard Alvin Sims said. "He's good at drawing fouls. We've just got to go out there and deny him the ball. Hopefully, he'll get frustrated and take bad shots."

Not likely. Freeman lit up the Cardinals for 34 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and added seven assists in the overtime loss. And he doesn't want that losing feeling just yet.

"Nobody on the team wants to be out of the tournament right now," Freeman said. "We don't want to stop playing basketball as a team. Everybody has that mentality."

Against Coppin State, the Longhorns had to contend with 17,000 fans, most of them screaming for the underdog Eagles. Inside the Carrier Dome, where the Syracuse Orangemen play, Freeman was hoping it would play out differently.

"People here should root for us because of the Orange," he said, his bright orange Texas jersey glowing in the flourescent lights. "We have that in common. Hopefully, all the Syracuse fans will give us all their strength. It's the Orange. We bleed Orange."Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: