Texas Hoops: Upset Special

"You think of Duke and Texas, you don't think of the round of 32."

That's what Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski had to say about his team's second-round matchup with the Longhorns on Saturday. Coach K always maintains a healthy respect for his opponents, but one gets the feeling that sentiment is particularly strong with regard to Texas, given Krzyzewski's history with Texas Coach Rick Barnes.

During his tenure with Clemson in the late 1990s, Barnes' teams compiled a 4-5 record against Krzyzewski and Duke, and it was 25 years ago that the Texas coach interviewed for an assistant position of Coach K's staff. Consequently, both coaches understand the characteristics the other consistently instills in his teams.

"There are some staples in their program that they do -- I mean, obviously, every game they come out extremely aggressive to start with," Barnes said of Duke Friday. "They're going to apply a great deal of pressure in the first four or five minutes of the game and see how you're going to handle that."

Despite playing just 50 miles from their home in Durham, the second-seeded Blue Devils' perceived home-court advantage could be nullified by a strong contingent of Tar Heels fans that will likely adopt a rooting interest in Texas after North Carolina faces LSU earlier in the day. Additionally the Horns could drum up some support from fans who remember Barnes fondly from his days in the ACC. Barnes also spent his collegiate days at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, North Carolina.

In order to stay competitive with the Blue Devils, the Longhorns will need more of the hot shooting that propelled them to their first-round victory over Minnesota. But Duke is not Minnesota, and has a multitude of shooters that can counter the three-point ability of AJ Abrams. The onus could fall to big man Dexter Pittman to provide Texas an advantage that Duke cannot match. Pittman is averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds dating back to the Big 12 Tournament.

Duke is looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2006. Texas has advanced past the second round in five of the past seven years.