ATLANTA — Thursday night in the Georgia Dome, both LSU and Texas experienced a “Shining Moment” that March Madness and the NCAA Tournament have become famous for.
One more “Shining Moment” waits for one of those teams Saturday that will send either LSU or Texas to Indianapolis for the 2006 Final Four and keep alive a dream of a national men’s basketball championship.
The fourth-seeded LSU Tigers and the second-seed and nationally ninth-ranked Texas Longhorns meet in the championship game of the Atlanta Region Saturday afternoon before an expected crowd of over 25,000 in the Georgia Dome. The Elite 8 showdown will crown the first participant at the RCA Dome next week as the game tips at 4:40 p.m. EST, 3:40 p.m. CST.
Dick Enberg, Jay Bilas and Bob Wentzel will call the game on CBS Sports with Jim Hawthorne and Kevin Ford to broadcast the contest on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network and in the “Geaux Zone” powered by USAgencies” at LSUsports.net. Brad Sham and Larry Conley will also have the radio broadcast nationally on the Westwood One/CBS Sports NCAA Network.
The Tigers advanced by beating No. 1-ranked and the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, the Duke Blue Devils, 62-54, marking the third time in school history that LSU has defeated a sitting No.1 team in the AP poll. The Tigers rallied from five back in the final eight minutes to claim the win, putting LSU in the Elite 8 for the first time since 1987 and with a chance to go back to the Final Four for the first time since 1986.
Texas won its Sweet 16 game Thursday on a three-pointer by Kenton Paulino at the buzzer seconds after West Virginia had tied the game on its own trey and appeared to have sent the game to overtime. But Paulino’s bucket gave the Longhorns a 74-71 victory and put Texas just one win away from a trip to the Final Four for the first time since 2003.
This will be the seventh time a No. 2 seed (Texas) has faced a No. 4 seed (LSU) with a Final Four berth on the line, and the first time since 1996. Eight times since 1990 a No. 4 seed has advanced to the Final Four, as recently as last year when No. 4 seed Louisville advanced with a victory over West Virginia.
“We’re excited about where we are and looking forward to the game (Saturday),” said LSU Coach John Brady. “I think (Texas is) extremely talented athletically. I think they mirror us in some ways. Some of the things we like to do, they do. So sometimes when we’re watching tape of them, we’re similar in some areas. So I think it may be a case of which team can do what they do the best for the longest period of time will have an opportunity to win that game. Texas is certainly well coached.”
“We realize (Saturday’s) opponent is much different than what we played up to this point in the NCAA Tournament,” said Texas coach Rick Barnes. “We really played three teams that have run more a spread type offense. More of a bit control oriented where LSU is a very athletic, strong, physical team. Excellent in the open court. A team that I thought last night their defense was outstanding. And as you go back and watch them, the success they have had this year and the way they play, they’re a very tough opponent to play against. Certainly we realize that we’re going to have to play great basketball to give ourselves a chance.”
LSU’s Tyrus Thomas returned to the starting lineup against Duke for his first start since injuring his ankle in the Feb. 25 Kentucky game. Thomas had nine points, 13 rebounds (one off his season high) and five blocks in 25 minutes. Darnell Lazare, who had been starting for Thomas during his injury, also proved to be a big factor getting 10 first half points to keep LSU in the lead while Thomas and Glen Davis were both on the bench with two fouls and showing no resistance to coming off the bench and answering for the Tigers.
“We started Darnell the first seven or eight games of the year and then when we didn’t start him, I brought him in and explained to him that we thought Tyrus Thomas deserved to start by the way he played, and although Darnell didn’t like it, which he shouldn’t like it, he came off the bench and handled it well. Then when Tyrus got hurt it was obvious it was the right thing to do to have Darnell start,” said Brady. “When we got back to campus (after the A&M game), it was time to put our best players on the floor. And I didn’t say anything to Darnell this particular time, because in his mind he knew because we came back to practice on that Monday, and I called the first five out and Tyrus was the name I called and not Darnell and Darnell put a shirt on for the white team and stepped out there and never said a word. Has never even broke stride on it.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and how he’s handled the whole situation. He’s great in the timeouts. He’s positive. Land night he was great during the game. He’s handled it extremely well and that’s why he’ll always be a special guy to me. Guys who start all the time don’t need any help too much because they know what’s going to happen with them. The guys that come off your bench are the guys that need to be talked to from time to time and be encouraged that they are important to the team. He has a comfort zone in that and I appreciate that in him.”
In his press conference Texas’ Barnes discussed the problems LSU could cause his Longhorns.
“(Thursday) I thought they were great defensively,” said Barnes, in his eighth year at Texas. “Maybe as good a defensive effort as I’ve seen this year. Guarding a very talented team and the way they swarmed. They just did a great job using their athletic ability. (LSU) did a great job on J.J. Redick, there was not much separation. Duke does about as good a job as anybody in the country running their offense. And J. J. Redick curls tremendously. They were there, they didn’t give him much at all and then offensively, you got to understand that they know what they are looking for. They really realize that their athletic ability, they can — they block shots, they alter shots, and offensively, they get in the open court, they can create a lot of problems.”
Barnes also talked about LSU’s head basketball coach.
“Well, he works real hard. He’s an excellent basketball coach,” the Texas mentor said. “He’s won everywhere he’s been. He’s done an outstanding job at LSU. Again, I mean this isn’t the first time they have been successful. They do a great job. You look at his teams, they’re sound. (Thursday) — I’m not sure I saw a better defensive effort from anyone this year. They were tremendous. I think the mindset he’s got his team in and the relationship he seems to have there is good. But looking from the outside in, you just got to be impressed with the fact that they went through a league, won it, and are right here with everyone else still playing.”
P. J. Tucker leads Texas in scoring at 16.2 points per game with LaMarcus Aldridge (15.3) and Daniel Gibson (13.4) the other double figure scorers.
“I respect Texas’ inside players and the talent of their team, but I think our perimeter needs to hold up again,” said Brady. “I always said this whole year, if our perimeter can hold up and make a few baskets, then I think we’ll be fine. Because around the goal we have been consistently pretty good all year long. But Tucker is a matchup for us that has got to be considered a concern. Gibson is a matchup we’ve got to be concerned with. Hopefully we can find a way to not let Aldridge just turn around and shoot jump shots on us. But we can put Tyrus in there with him and bother him, maybe even Glen to lean on him a little bit, and then make sure we pay attention to (Mike) Williams when he comes off the bench. It should be an interesting game and a fun game to watch.”
The Tigers and Longhorns both had emotional wins and it will be interesting to see if either team can match the intensity of Thursday’s play. That was something on Brady’s mind the moment the victory was sealed.
“I talked to someone after the game they said what’s your biggest challenge, I said the biggest challenge for us right now is to calm our team down, get them back to the hotel, settle them down and get some rest and worry about our preparation for Texas,” said Brady. “Our team did well. We had a meal in the hotel (Thursday) night, we talked a little bit at the meal and they went straight to their rooms. We had no family, no friends up there. We had the floor monitored and brought a campus security officer with us and our strength coach, they monitored the floor. Our players controlled themselves pretty well. I think they are focused on (Saturday’s) game. I think they feel good about what they were able to do and how they did it, not only — it wasn’t a fluke where we hit a shot from half court to win the game. It was a 40-minute complete defensive effort that our team game. They feel good about that and hopefully that give them more confidence going into the game.”
Brady also knows his team realizes what is at stake.
“They know that the game is a chance to go to the Final Four. One more win, you’re in the Final Four. I told Darrel Mitchell at the workout, Darrel, let’s go win, win one more. And Darrel Mitchell said, let’s go win three more. So I think the planning ahead is there and I think our team’s responded to that pretty well right now.”
LSU or Texas leaves Atlanta sometime around 7 p.m. Saturday night with a regional championship as their “Shining Moment” and dances all the way to Indianapolis and the national semifinals next Saturday.