The Horns play in the Sweet 16 tonight. This is the first time they've been there in a while.
Oregon's Ducks, Texas' opponent in tonight's Midwest Regional semifinal, were polar opposites of the Longhorns. Unbeatable at home, unimpressive on the road.
Away from its home gym called The Pit, Oregon has averaged almost 10 fewer points, has made only 38.7 percent of its threes compared to 47.4 percent at home and commits two more turnovers with three fewer steals. Ducks Coach Ernie Kent, however, defends his club's 9-8 record away from McArthur Court, where Oregon was a perfect 16-0.
"Early on, we had three losses on the road," Kent said, "but that's really deceiving."
None of those losses to UMass, Portland and Minnesota was by more than four points. After a 27-point November blowout of Louisville in the Hall of Fame Game in Springfield, Mass., the Ducks awoke at 6 in the morning to fly across the country for a loss to UMass in Portland three nights later.
"That was a tough trip on some of our big bodies," Kent said. "We were up 21-8 and had a chance to win in our last possession. The next game against Portland was probably our worst game of the year. Against Minnesota, we had a chance to win the last several possessions, too."
This Oregon team needs no alibis, no what-ifs to explain a slight deviation in a fabulous season. Besides that 0-3 string, the Ducks have lost only five more games, one to Southern Cal after whipping the Trojans a week earlier to clinch the Pac-10 title and two to Cal and Stanford in overtime games. They won at UCLA for the first time in 18 years and on Arizona's floor for the first time in 17.
The Ducks have three of the best perimeter shooters in college basketball, although Kent says his best two three-point specialists, Anthony Lever and James Davis, come off the bench. The Ducks run so much, they can be labeled a poor man's Kansas, but not all that poor. Star point guard Luke Ridnour is Oregon's T.J. Ford but a better shooter, a talent so highly regarded he's pretty much a Joey Harrington without the Heisman billboard on a New York high-rise.
Oregon's not likely to be rattled tonight, but neither should Texas. Both are 7-3 in their past 10 away games.
"Some of the players have said they felt more focused on the road," Barnes said. "Maybe that's a little of our youth coming out. Maybe at home, they assume it's just automatically going to happen."
That could explain home losses to Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, clubs the Longhorns beat on the road.
Barnes has developed such a trust level with his team, he has no rules other than be on time. He doesn't even lay down a curfew.
Barnes so likes his buttoned-down workaholics, he lets the players pick out where they want to eat and the movies they watch on short bus trips to Waco and College Station.
So when the Longhorns are taking in "Ali" on the way to the Baylor game or center James Thomas decides the team should stop at Rudy's for barbecue on the way to last week's first two NCAA tournament rounds, they know they've got as much invested in this team as Barnes does.
And when Barnes pulls over for a round of Blizzards at a Dairy Queen after beating Mississippi State on Sunday, they know they have a coach who appreciates their efforts.
Barnes' more relaxed style is clearly working.
"I got a call from my former president at Clemson, who said he noticed I was letting players wear tattoos," Barnes said. "I told him if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to get any players. He also asked me about T.J.'s hair, and I said if we keep winning, I'm going to start braiding mine."
kbohls@statesman.com
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