Oregon Can’t Mess With Texas

Texas let loose its rip ‘n’ run brand of basketball, going from ugly to awesome as it wore down Oregon in a 90-73 victory Thursday night in the NCAA West Regional.

Terrence Rencher, who scored 19 points, and Roderick Anderson, who added 15 points and seven assists, led the Texas attack from the backcourt with their speed and penetration.

Texas (23-7) kept up a relentless ball-swiping, fastbreaking style from start to finish, but made a critical tactical shift in the second half, going inside more and using its superior size and muscle to break open the game. The Longhorns shot 61 percent from the field in the second half, after hitting on only 36 percent in the first half when they went 4-for-15 from 3-point range.

“Our isolation game lets us create, penetrate and get a shot or kick it out for an open jumper,” Anderson said. “Tonight it worked perfectly, and me and Terrence didn’t try to do it by ourselves. We got six people in double figures because we played unselfishly.

“We felt we were a top 25 team. We wanted respect. We felt we had something to prove,” he said.

Texas coach Tom Penders’ son, Tommy, spoke like a coach’s son when he said, “Our rotation with our big men was the difference. Our big guys are quicker than theirs, so we got our hands on a lot of balls and took some charges.

“We wore them down. That’s our game plan. We go 10-deep and we’re all in great condition.”

Said his dad: “We’ve beaten a lot of tough teams this year. Maybe now this team will get a little credit.”

Oregon (19-9) was led by guard Orlando Williams’ 23 points, but it was his 5-for-15 3-point shooting and the even poorer outside shooting by the rest of the Ducks that hurt them throughout.

“You can’t win ballgames shooting like we did,” Oregon center Zach Williams said.

Oregon hit on just 7 of 33 3-point attempts, and shot 38 percent overall from the field.

“It’s the most unorthodox game I’ve been involved in,” Oregon coach Jerry Green said. “We never got into our sets. They’re very good at what they do. Their style is very unusual, and they do it excellently.”

Williams said Oregon was not prepared for this kind of game.

“It was much more pressure than we expected,” Williams said. “We knew they would pressure the ball, but we didn’t expect the traps. It turned into much more of an up-tempo game than we wanted.”

Texas 90, Oregon 73 TEXAS (23-6)

Wingfield 5-7 1-2 11, Freeman 5-9 0-0 12, McIver 3-6 1-3 7, Anderson 5-15 4-9 15, Rencher 7-16 4-7 19, Alvarado 0-0 0-0 0, Perryman 4-9 0-0 11, Penders 1-2 0-0 3, Gilmore 0-1 0-0 0, Simpson 3-5 6-6 12. Totals 33-70 16-27 90.

OREGON (19-9)

Potter 0-2 2-2 2, Parker 3-8 3-3 9, Sellers 5-9 3-4 13, Willkins 2-6 1-2 5, Williams 9-20 0-1 23, Mitchell 1-2 0-0 2, Madden 0-5 3-4 3, Lyden 1-2 0-1 3, Lawrence 4-9 0-0 9, Runyon 1-3 0-0 2, Johnson 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 26-69 14-19 73.

Halftime-Texas 39, Oregon 37. 3-Point goals-Texas 8-22 (Perryman 3-6, Freeman 2-4, Penders 1-2, Rencher 1-4, Anderson 1-6), Oregon 7-33 (Williams 5-15, Lyden 1-1, Lawrence 1-6, Potter 0-1, Sellers 0-1, Wilkins 0-1, Mitchell 0-1, Parker 0-3, Madden 0-4). Fouled out-Parker, Wilkins, Madden. Rebounds-Texas 47 (Wingfield 13), Oregon 46 (Sellers 10). Assists-Texas 13 (Anderson 7), Oregon 16 (Wilkins 9). Total fouls-Texas 19, Oregon 24.

Cincinnati 77, Temple 71

The teams combined to make 26 3-pointers - one short of the tournament record - including six by Cincinnati’s LaZell Durden as the Bearcats beat the Owls.

TEMPLE (19-11)

Alston 4-12 4-5 13, Ivey 3-6 0-0 6, Cunningham 1-2 0-0 2, Miller 9-18 3-5 30, Brunson 4-15 4-5 16, Futch 0-0 0-0 0, Stewart 1-3 0-3 2, Battie 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-57 11-18 71.

CINCINNATI (22-11)

Gregor 1-1 0-0 2, Fortson 2-5 3-4 7, Long 4-7 0-3 8, LeGree 1-1 2-3 4, Durden 8-13 2-2 24, Flint 6-8 0-0 14, Burton 5-8 2-2 16, Brannen 0-0 0-0 0, Bostic 0-1 0-0 0, Jacobs 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 27-44 11-16 77.

Halftime-Cincinnati 42, Temple 37. 3-Point goals-Temple 14-34 (Miller 9-17, Brunson 4-9, Alston 1-8), Cincinnati 12-20 (Durden 6-11, Burton 4-7, Flint 2-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Temple 27 (Cunningham, Brunson 6), Cincinnati 31 (Long 11). Assists-Temple 8 (Alston 3), Cincinnati 19 (Burton 4). Total fouls-Temple 17, Cincinnati 17.

UConn 100, Tenn.-Chattanooga 71

The Huskies jumped to a 15-0 lead and weren’t threatened, getting 28 points from Maurio Hanson and 23 from Brandon Born in stomping the Moccasins.

TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA (19-11)

Hanson 5-22 15-19 28, Born 10-20 2-2 23, Scott 2-8 1-1 5, Walters 0-6 0-0 0, Oliver 3-14 2-2 9, Lemons 1-4 0-1 2, Neal 0-2 0-0 0, Henderson 1-1 0-0 2, Watkins 0-3 0-0 0, Smith 0-1 2-2 2, Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-81 22-27 71.

CONNECTICUT (26-4)

Marshall 6-12 10-10 22, Allen 7-9 2-2 18, Knight 5-8 2-2 12, Sheffer 2-8 2-3 6, Ollie 1-3 4-4 7, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Fair 3-10 3-4 11, King 0-1 1-2 1, Hayward 5-5 2-3 12, Willingham 0-1 2-2 2, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Inyatkin 0-1 0-0 0, Srb 0-0 1-2 1, Yeomans 0-0 0-0 0, Cohen-Mintz 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 32-63 29-34 100.

Halftime-Connecticut 45, UTC 25. 3-Point goals-UTC 5-38 (Hanson 3-15, Born 1-7, Oliver 1-8, Lemons 0-1, Watkins 0-2, Walters 0-5), Connecticut 7-15 (Allen 2-2, CohenMintz 2-3, Fair 2-6, Ollie 1-1, Marshall 0-1, Sheffer 0-2). Fouled out-Scott. Rebounds- UTC 41 (Hanson 14), Connecticut 54 (Knight, Hayward 13). Assists-UTC 11 (Walters, Lemons, Neal 3), Connecticut 23 (Ollie 11). Total fouls-UTC 23, Connecticut 24. Technicals-UTC coach McCarthy. A11,865.

MEMO: This is a sidebar that appeared with the story: West Regional Thursday’s games Connecticut 100, Tennessee-Chattanooga 71 Cincinnati 77, Temple 71 Texas 90, Oregon 73 Maryland 81, Gonzaga 58 Today’s games Utah (27-5) vs. Long Beach State (20-9) Mississippi State (20-7) vs. Santa Clara (21-6) Missouri (19-8) vs. Indiana (19-11) UCLA (25-2) vs. Florida International \=b