 "Photo: Mark Mulligan")
DALLAS - Ray Charles famously sang about having sweet Georgia on his mind.
And now, so can the Longhorns.
After sneaking by a pesky Pennsylvania team two days earlier, Texas muzzled N.C. State, winning 75-54 and punching a ticket to Atlanta in the process, for what will be the Longhorns' fourth Sweet Sixteen appearance in the past five seasons.
"It was a great team effort, it really was," Texas head coach Rick Barnes said. "We came out really well today. When we needed to make some plays on the offensive end, we were able to do it."
The Wolfpack won the opening tip and got a quick layup from guard Cameron Bennerman, who led N.C. State with 16 points, only to see Texas go on a devastating 20-3 run.
To its credit N.C. State showed gumption, responding with a 27-12 run of its own, entering the locker room with a 5-point halftime deficit.
After both teams shot better than 50 percent from the floor in the game's first stanza, the Longhorn defense emerged, holding the Wolfpack to just 25.9 percent shooting after the intermission.
"We didn't make any adjustments [after the half]," P.J. Tucker said. "We just communicated and played hard on defense."
Texas committed only three second-half turnovers, grabbed 10 more rebounds overall, made eight steals and had four players reach double figures in Sunday's rout.
The Longhorns got perhaps their best bench production of all season, as freshman A.J. Abrams scored 16 points and dished out five assists. Texas also got a much-needed solid outing from Mike Williams, who, despite only notching 2 points and 4 rebounds, spelled Brad Buckman with 22 minutes of action in what Barnes called his "best game so far at Texas."
"To make a run in the tournament, we're definitely going to need our bench, and Mike and A.J. were huge today," Tucker said.
Before Sunday's 21-point win over the Wolfpack, Texas staved off an upset-minded Pennsylvania team that nearly shocked a highly partisan Longhorn crowd.
Looking to make history and become just the fifth No. 15 seed to claim an NCAA Tournament victory, the Quakers slowed the game down from its onset and forced Texas into playing their choppy, defensive style of game.
"[In the first half] we were holding the ball and really trying to go one-on-one instead of playing team basketball," Tucker said.
It was a sloppy start for both teams, as they went a combined 1-for-9 in the game's opening minutes. That pace continued until intermission, at which point Penn took a 23-22 advantage into the locker room.
"This is the NCAA Tournament; anyone who thinks there are going to be blowouts is wrong," Barnes said afterwards. "Seeds mean nothing this time of year."
Despite more than doubling the Quakers' rebound total and holding them to just 28 percent shooting in the first, Texas trailed at the half. The Quakers moved the ball well and found open shooters against Texas' 2-3 zone, connecting on six of their 14 first-half 3-pointers.
In the second half, the Longhorns played more aggressively, which opened up their offense and allowed them to grab an early lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
"Coach talked to us about getting movement on the offensive end," Daniel Gibson said. "He said it didn't look like we were having fun [in the first half]."
In the end, Texas' inside presence was just too much as the Longhorns out-rebounded Penn 42-21 and got 36 points from Tucker and LaMarcus Aldridge. The Longhorns made 13 of their final 14 free throws and held on for a 60-52 victory.
The pair of victories set up a Thursday meeting with sixth seed West Virginia, a team the Longhorns barely beat 76-75 on a neutral court earlier this the season.
"I think we've gotten better from that game," Abrams said. "We've just got to go up there and play Texas basketball."
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