© William Purnell, USA TODAY
On Cusp Of Making The Final Four, Longhorns Dream Of A National Title
Calling all seven other programs that still remain standing; how about them Longhorns?
Can you see what they're doing?
Can you stop it?
If Friday night's 83-71 victory over Xavier in the Sweet 16 wasn't a message to every other program still fighting for a national championship, then actions mean nothing.
Ninty-four seconds into the game, Longhorns' March hero Dylan Disu left with foot discomfort and never returned. And Texas? It proceeded to take a 17-point lead heading into halftime and have five players finish with at least 11 points.
The second-seeded Longhorns' squad isn't a feel-good story under interim coach Rodney Terry, who should be calling his agent to reach out to other programs if the school refuses to remove the temporary tag soon. Chris Beard's suspension and later firing could have served as an excuse for Texas to underwhelm.
Instead, it exceeded expectations.
Since Terry took over in early December, the Horns are 22-7. They're 6-0 since their first trip to the T-Mobile Center, which culminated in the Big 12 title. They're averaging 73 points per game since the start of the Big 12 Tournament and finally took their 15-year monkey off their back of making it to the Elite Eight.
With an interim coach? With drama clouding the program's future? With injuries and ill-timed losses?
This Texas team? No wonder why the feeling around the Forty Acres is national title or bust.
And yes, that should be the expectation from fans. It's the goal of the players who are 40 minutes and a win over fifth-seeded Miami from making the trip to the Final Four in Houston for the first time since 2003.
"We're a pretty emotional team," Terry said postgame. "A lot of times, we feed off of our emotions in terms of how hard we play. We've got an older team that really understands playing with poise, playing with emotion, but also trying to finish the game as well."
A national isn't just plausible, but more so possible. Two weeks before their emotional Sweet 16 victory in front of fans that flocked to Kansas City, Mo. for a weekend getaway, the Longhorns were here.
Location-wise, yes, but more so here in terms of the situation. Timmy Allen was ruled out prior to Texas' final matchup against then-No. 2 Kansas. No matter, the Horns outmatched the Jayhawks behind clutch performances from Marcus Carr and Sir'Jabari Rice.
Same old performance, just a different day.
Texas didn't handle the Musketeers. They dismantled them. Christian Bishop scored 18 points and finished with nine boards. Carr and Tyrese Hunter both shot at least 44 percent from the field and were at least 66 percent from deep.
The Longhorns suffocated Xavier's frontcourt and forced ill-advised shots throughout the evening. Seven-foot center Jack Nunge finished 6-of-19 shooting, while Colby Jones was 7-of-12. Texas had three blocks from Allen and challenged the Musketeers to shoot from the 3-point in hopes of playing catch-up.
Xavier isn't the star-power roster of Alabama, Kansas, Houston or Purdue. Then again, all four top seeds were eliminated before the semifinals for the first time in tournament history. And based on how the Boilermakers broke, the Jayhawks croaked, Tide tumbled and the Cougars crumbled against Fairleigh Dickinson, Arkansas, San Diego State and Miami, respectively, Texas likely would have won by double points if matched up.
The old souls of Austin have been pivotal to the surge of Texas hoops. Physical dominance over 18-year-olds shouldn't come as a shock since the Horns are one of the older teams in college basketball. Brock Cunningham is 24. So is Rice. Bishop, Allen and Carr are 23, while Disu turned 22 last November.
Thanks to the transfer portal and the rising stock of name, image and likeness deals, players can always head back to school for another season if their draft stock is at an all-time low. This is it for most of the Longhorns, meaning the stakes are at an all-time high.
They say a man with nothing to lose is one of the most dangerous faces on the planet. What happens when six seniors on their last leg come together with that same notion?
Are the Avengers of March Madness rising under Nick "Terry" Fury?
“This has been a very resilient team all year long,” Terry said. “We’ve been in this position before. When you play in that Big 12 league, you've been battle-tested. It's not anything you really haven't faced all year long — foul trouble, an injured guy. You just keep playing and keep working the game for 40 minutes.”
If there was any year for Texas to finally cut down the nets, it's this one. Of the top 10 teams ranked in the final AP Poll before the tournament, three still remain. The Longhorns are the highest seed, while Gonzaga and UConn trail just behind. No team has genuinely proven its worth between consistent play in the regular season and domination in the tournament.
Of the eight remaining programs, Texas would be the closest in that category.
Anything can happen between now and the closing minutes of Sunday's Midwest Region final. Disu's status remains a mystery. Fatigue could set in right before crossing the finish line, and a plethora of failed shots and hurried 3's could lead to some late-game fireworks from T-Mobile Arena.
But Friday night was a message to the remaining seven programs fighting for a shot at immortality.
Texas is here, it's dangerous and is head-on as bracket champs or bust from here on out.
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