Texas blows out Xavier 83-71 for spot in NCAA Elite Eight

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Rodney Terry stopped onthe way to the Texas locker room after his team knocked out Xavierfor a spot in the Elite Eight, the interim coach fulfilling a fan’swish for a photograph by flashing that all-too-familiar “Hook ’emHorns” sign.

“Go get that job, coach!” the grateful fan hollered afterhim.

A couple more wins and the folks at Texas might not have achoice.

The longtime assistant made his boldest statement yet for thefull-time gig, guiding the Longhorns without ailing big man DylanDisu to an 83-71 win over the Musketeers on Friday night. TyreseHunter scored 19 points, and Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop added18 apiece, to move second-seeded Texas within a game of the FinalFour for the first time in 15 years.

“I thought we played one of our better defensive games tonightthat we played all year,” said Terry, who stepped into the top jobin December, when Chris Beard was suspended and ultimately firedfollowing allegations of domestic violence.

“Proud of my guys and the way they put their will on this gamefrom the start to finish.”

Disu, who had been dominant through the first two games of thetournament, hurt his foot in a second-round win over Penn State. Hegot treatment on it all week, and the Longhorns successfully keptit secret until tipoff, when the big man played just a couple ofminutes and then limped off the floor and straight to the lockerroom.

When he returned to the bench, he was wearing a big walkingboot, a black hoodie and a grim expression.

“It’ll be day-to-day right now at the moment,” Terry said. “Wegot the best in the business working with us.”

Still, the Longhorns already had a tough task ahead in No. 5seed Miami on Sunday night, especially given the way the Hurricanesroared to an 89-75 win over Houston. The possibility of playingwithout Disu, who led the Longhorns to a Big 12 Tournament titleand earned MVP honors on the same floor just two weeks ago, onlymakes it harder.

“We knew before the game that we wouldn’t have Dylan for thewhole game,” Carr said. “We just wanted to really play for him. Weknew how much this would mean to him. We got emotional in thereknowing he wouldn’t be out there.”

Relegated to a 6-foot-9 cheerleader Friday night, Disu at leasthad plenty to celebrate.

Sir’Jabari Rice scored 16 points and Timmy Allen added 11 forthe Longhorns (29-8). The best-seeded team left in the tournamentkept Souley Boum and Xavier’s perimeter threats in check whilemaking life miserable for Jack Nunge down low.

Adam Kunkel hit five 3-pointers and led the third-seededMusketeers (27-10) with 21 points. Nunge scored 15 but needed 19shots to get there, while Colby Jones also had 15 points. Boumdidn’t hit a field goal until early in the second half and finishedwith 12.

“They were better than us,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said. “Wehad a very difficult time running our offense and that’s atestament to their defense, because we’ve been able to scorevirtually every game we’ve played this year.”

It was Texas that scored at will, though, and Carr that got themgoing. He spun through the lane like a Tilt-A-Whirl for toughbuckets at the rim, and even knocked down a spinning, desperation 3as the shot clock expired. And when Miller traded out a man-to-mandefense for a zone, the Longhorns began to pound the ball to Bishopin the paint.

With dozens of family and friends on hand, the Creightontransfer from the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit, Missouri,went to work. Bishop threw down one dunk on Carr’s alley-oop lob,then slammed down another a few minutes later.

By the time Allen banked in a half-court heave, the Longhornshad established a 42-25 halftime advantage — and had to beredirected from the Xavier tunnel, where they were busycelebrating, toward their own locker room.

“Their pressure is something you can’t really simulate untilyou’re in the game against them. Their toughness, theirexperience,” Miller said. “And then offensively they have greatguard play, and you feel that as well.”

Xavier tried to creep back a couple of times, but the Longhornsnever let their lead sniff single digits. And that gave Terry, whoreturned to Texas after head jobs at Fresno State and UTEP, achance to breathe deeply and enjoy the moment.

The 54-year-old from the small Texas town of Angleton was onRick Barnes’ staff the last time the Longhorns reached the EliteEight, back in 2008. He was on the 2003 staff that guided them allthe way to the Final Four, too.

Now, he’s one step away from taking Texas on a most improbabletrip to college basketball’s biggest stage.

“Continue to want more. I mean, each round — don’t besatisfied,” Terry said. “We’re going to enjoy this victory for onenight, like we have all year long, and we’ll be on to the nextchallenge and very quickly against a really good Miami team.”