Texas led the majority of their Sweet 16 game against Stanford but the Cardinal, led by the towering Lopez brothers, made things interesting and made sure the Longhorns and the partisan crowd in Houston were uncomfortable the whole game.
With the 300 pound sophomore center Dexter Pittman matching up with the twin seven footers, Robin and Brook Lopez, the rest of the Longhorn squad was able to do its thing in getting Texas the 82-62 win.
“Dex did a great job,” Texas sophomore DJ Augustin said. “He put his body against him and I don’t think Brook could handle that weight.”
Augustin led Texas with 23 points, seven assists, and two steals and was invaluable in the Longhorns win. AJ Abrams scored 12 points and Justin Mason scored seven points, eight rebounds, and six assists as all the Longhorns stepped up to take down the Cardinal.
Brook Lopez continued to shine for the Cardinal as he led the game in points with 26 and also notched 10 rebounds, and two blocks. However he was shut down almost the entire second half of the game and was constantly frustrated by Pittman.
“I felt he was getting frustrated because I heard him talking,” said Pittman. “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.”
“I think I just stopped playing aggressive since he was guarding me, throwing up low-percentage shots,” said Lopez. “He just bodied up against me and tried to push me off the lane.”
With Lopez stymied all game, the Cardinal had no one else to turn to. Landry Fields was the only other Cardinal to reach double digit points with 11.
With the win, Texas will advance to the South Regional Championship against one seed Memphis. Memphis will be looking to prove its critics and doubters wrong with a win against a legitimate championship contender in Texas. Texas will be looking to go to its first final four since 2003 and capture its elusive first national championship. The Longhorns will also be looking to please the thousands of Texas fans that have flooded Houston for the games and turned the Stanford game into a de facto home game for the Longhorns.
“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.”