The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Stanford
Men's Basketball advances with 82-62 win over Stanford in NCAA Tournament
03.28.2008 | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON (AP) -- All those hours on the exercise bike, all those yummy desserts he skipped--it all finally paid off for Texas center Dexter Pittman.
The guy with the wide body and the baby face used every ounce of his girth to pound and pester Stanford's 7-foot Lopez twins, wearing them down like a boxer throwing body blows. Once they slowed, D.J. Augustin and Texas' usual stars ripped off a 20-3 run, sending the Longhorns past the Cardinal 82-62 in an NCAA South Regional semifinal Friday night.
"Dex did a great job," said Augustin, who scored eight of his 23 points during the game-breaking run. "He put his body against him and I don't think Brook could handle that weight."
With Pittman helping answer the question of how the Longhorns would handle the Cardinal's big guys, his little teammates did the rest.
Damion James scored 18 points and A.J. Abrams scored 12. Augustin added seven assists and five rebounds and Justin Mason had seven points, eight rebounds and six assists, providing plenty of thrills for the tens of
The crowd turned quiet when Stanford (28-8) made it 52-51, but then Lopez went out, Augustin turned a loose ball into a one-man fast break and the rout was on.
When James threw down a dunk so electrifying that he began celebrating on his way down, the Longhorns faithful knew they'd better find another burnt orange shirt because they will be coming back to the stadium Sunday for a game with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
Texas will play Sunday against the winner of the Michigan State-Memphis game.
"We had a feeling we'd have a good load of our fans down here," Abrams said. "They did a good job of getting this place loud and really supporting us. It really helped us out when they started coming back and they got into it."
Pittman is an unlikely star. A sophomore who arrived in Austin weighing 366 pounds, he's down to 299 but still only a bit player. This time, coach Rick Barnes made him the first guy off the bench and told him to make sure Brook and Robin Lopez felt his presence in the most obvious way.
The brothers didn't like it, especially not Brook--whose frustration was obvious every time he got banged. Which just led to more banging.
Brook went from scoring 24 of Stanford's first 48 points to not making a basket over the final 13:55. Pittman kept him from getting to his favorite spots and even when the jumbo defender was on the bench, Lopez didn't have enough energy left to beat whoever took his place.
"I felt he was getting frustrated because I heard him talking," said Pittman, who had four points and six rebounds in 10 minutes. "My goal was to make sure I keep my body at him on all times--whenever the ball goes up, whenever the ball is in the guard's hands, make sure my body is on him. Even on offense, I could clear the lane out and move him where he couldn't block shots."
As time ran out, Brook pounded the court in anger as he walked to the postgame handshake. In the interview room, he turned his head away when asked questions about Pittman.
"I think I just stopped playing aggressive since he was guarding me, throwing up low-percentage shots," said Lopez, who finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds. "He just bodied up against me and tried to push me off the lane."
Barnes gave Pittman a scholarship because he thought the kid could play. But he refused to use Pittman until he got into shape. Even as well as he was playing Friday, Pittman still had to come out to catch his breath.
"I told him, `I don't know if I would ever say (this) to you up to this point, but tonight your weight was a factor,"' Barnes said. "I thought he was huge."
Just to clear, he meant that as a compliment.
Stanford had nowhere but Brook Lopez to go for offense. The second-best scorer, reserve Landry Fields, had only 11 points. The game was 17:29 old before the Cardinal finally hit anything longer than an 8-footer.
"For whatever reason, we didn't hit shots we normally make," said point guard Mitch Johnson, who was 2-for-10 for six points. Fellow starting guard Anthony Goods was 0-for-6 and scoreless.
The Cardinal already were on their deepest run since 2001. Whether they can get back next year might depend on whether Lopez and his 7-foot twin brother, Robin, stick around for their junior years. Regardless, coach Trent Johnson told his team how proud he was that they gave UCLA a run for the regular-season Pac-10 title and in the conference tournament, then made a nice run in the NCAAs.
"As hard as it is for me to say, they are better," Johnson said of Texas. "They have got three, four guys who are pretty good basketball players, and it would be easy for me to sit up here and say, `Well, we ran out of gas or didn't do this or didn't do that.' We have done what we've done all year long. We competed and came up short because they were better at crucial times."
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas advances to its second Elite 8 in the last three seasons and the third time in the last six seasons.
- Texas has played 19 of its 37 games this against NCAA Tournament teams and has a record of 15-4 in those games
- Texas is 32-28 (.533) in its 26 trips to the NCAA Tournament.
- Texas is 4-2 this season against AP Top 10 opponents and 6-3 against the Top 25 this season|
- With 31 wins this season, Texas sets the school record for most victories in a single season (30, 2005-06).
- Texas is now 21-0 when holding its opponent to less than 40 percent field goal shooting.
- Texas is averaging a 14.3 margin of victory in three NCAA Tournament games.
- Texas 20-point margin of victory ties its second largest in an NCAA Tournament game. The largest was a 21-point win twice. The margin is its largest in a Regional Semifinal game.
- In three NCAA Tournament games, Texas is shooting 42.9 percent (30-of-70) from three-point range.
- In three NCAA Tournament games, D.J. Augustin and Justin Mason have combined to post 42 assists to 12 turnovers (3.5-to-1 ratio).
- In six postseason games, Texas has a 1.9 (97-50) assist-to-turnover ratio
- Texas has posted more assists than turnovers in 31 of its 37 games, including 16 assists to six turnovers against Stanford.
- Texas had four players score in double figures for the 14th time this season (13-1).
- Texas has blocked 73 shots in the past 12 games (6.1 bpg).
- D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams moved to fourth on the UT single-season scoring duos list with 1,309 points, passing Terrence Rencher and B.J. Tyler (1,288, 1991-92).
- The Texas defense held Stanford F Brook Lopez without a field goal for the last 13:55 of the game and scoreless for the last 9:25.
- Texas outrebounded Standford15-5 to end the game
- Texas went on a 20-3 run in the second half to move the score from 52-51 to 72-54.
- Texas' first 11 field goals were scored by six different players, the first 15 rebounds were collected by eight different players and the first five steals were made by five different players.
A.J. Abrams
- Scored in double figures for the 29th time this season and the 67th time in his career in 108 career games
- Has collected at least four rebounds in three of the last four games
- In three NCAA Tournament games, has averaged 21.3 ppg on 22-of-43 shooting (.512), including 14-of-28 (.500) on threes
Connor Atchley
- In three NCAA Tournament games this season, has averaged 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks
- Scored in double figures for the 15th time this season and the 18th time in his career
- Has blocked at least one shot in 17 of the last 18 games and 32 of 37 games this season
- Has blocked at least two shots in all three NCAA Tournament games
- Led Texas in blocks for the 23rd time this season
D.J. Augustin
- Moved to 18th on the UT career scoring list with 1,218 points, passing Benford Williams (1,197, 1990-92)
- Moved to fourth on the UT single-season scoring list with 715 points, passing Reggie Freeman (695, 1995-96)
- Reached the 20-point mark for the 19th time this season and the 26th time in 72 career games
- Scored in double figures for the 33rd time this season and the 58th time in his career
- Set his career NCAA tournament high in scoring with 23 points (19, vs. New Mexico State, 2007)
- Led Texas in scoring for the 21st time this season
- In six postseason games, has posted 39 assists to 11 turnovers (3.5-to-1 ratio)
- Led Texas in assists for the 32nd time this season
- Has made at least two 3-pointers in eight of the last 10 games
Clint Chapman
- Had his highest point total since scoring seven points against Texas State on Dec. 15
Damion James
- Scored in double figures for the 26th time this season and the 38th time in 72 career games
- Has made at least one three-pointer in 12 of the last 14 games
Justin Mason
- Has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.0-to-1 (36-9) in postseason play
- Dished out at least four assists for the sixth consecutive game and the 13th time this season
- Collected at least seven rebounds for the eighth time this season
- Has made at least one three-pointer in eight of the last nine games
- Registered seven points, five rebounds and four assists in the first half
- Collected at least eight rebounds for the sixth time this season and the second in the last three games
- Led Texas in rebounding for the second time this season
Dexter Pittman
- Averaged 7.3 rebounds per game in three NCAA Tournament games
- Led Texas in blocks for the fourth time this season
- Matched his career high in blocks with two
