borna_horn
1,000+ Posts
I still have a soft spot for our Elite Eight team of 1990.
That team went further than any Texas team had in 40 years. They set off wild celebrations on the Drag. They featured the guard trio of Blanks, Mays, and Wright (BMW).
It started with a victory over #7 seed Georgia in the first round. We were seeded 10th, but scored a 100-88 victory including 44 points from our offensive leader, Travis Mays.
The next game was one of the biggest wins in UT history. We went into the Indianapolis Superdome to play #2 seed Purdue. A crowd of 24,000 included at most a couple of hundred Texas fans among the swarm of Purdue supporters. Purdue led late, but with this Texas team no lead was ever safe. Reserve Benford Williams helped spark a second half rally. It came to the final 6 seconds after Travis Mays made two free throws to put Texas ahead 73-72. Purdue guard Tony Jones took the ball the length of the court and put up a layup right before the buzzer. For the moment it looked like he would win it for the Boilermakers as the shot went up. But up went Texas forward Guillermo "Panama" Myers to trap the ball against the glass and block the shot. The game was over. Texas had done it. To this day I am not sure when else in our history we have beaten a team as highly seeded. It was sweet.
That was followed by a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in Dallas for the Cinderella Horns. Against #6 seed Xavier, Texas again had to rally from a double-digit deficit in the second half. Behind a pro-Texas crowd, the Horns made a furious rally. Lance Blanks, after scoring a highlight reel shot off the glass with a foul, celebrated by demonstrating what became known as the "Lance Dance." The party was on. Texas pulled away to win 102-89.
The Drag went nuts. March Madness, for the first time in my lifetime, was alive and well in Austin, Texas.
Then came the Elite Eight matchup against our SEC nemesis, Arkansas. This was the talented Hog team that featured Todd Day, Lee Mayberry, and "Big O" Oliver Miller. Texas had always struggled to beat those Hog teams. That same year, we held a lead at home and Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson walked off the court in protest to a call, earning the nickname "Strollin' Nolan." To everyone's surprise, Arkansas sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer and handed the Horns a gut-wrenching loss.
This time around, Arkansas went out to a 16-point lead in the second half and seemed to be on the way to a blowout. But Texas again rallied, thanks to timely steals and missed Arkansas free throws, to cut the lead to 3 in the final minute with the ball in their hands. Travis Mays launched a long 3-pointer from the top of the key that hit the front of the rim and bounced forward. He then launched himself forward into a pile of players and fouled out, the last moments in his illustrious Longhorn career.
A trip to the Final Four was not to be for this Cinderella Horn team, but what a ride it was.
And Texas fans have been hooked on college basketball ever since.
That team went further than any Texas team had in 40 years. They set off wild celebrations on the Drag. They featured the guard trio of Blanks, Mays, and Wright (BMW).
It started with a victory over #7 seed Georgia in the first round. We were seeded 10th, but scored a 100-88 victory including 44 points from our offensive leader, Travis Mays.
The next game was one of the biggest wins in UT history. We went into the Indianapolis Superdome to play #2 seed Purdue. A crowd of 24,000 included at most a couple of hundred Texas fans among the swarm of Purdue supporters. Purdue led late, but with this Texas team no lead was ever safe. Reserve Benford Williams helped spark a second half rally. It came to the final 6 seconds after Travis Mays made two free throws to put Texas ahead 73-72. Purdue guard Tony Jones took the ball the length of the court and put up a layup right before the buzzer. For the moment it looked like he would win it for the Boilermakers as the shot went up. But up went Texas forward Guillermo "Panama" Myers to trap the ball against the glass and block the shot. The game was over. Texas had done it. To this day I am not sure when else in our history we have beaten a team as highly seeded. It was sweet.
That was followed by a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in Dallas for the Cinderella Horns. Against #6 seed Xavier, Texas again had to rally from a double-digit deficit in the second half. Behind a pro-Texas crowd, the Horns made a furious rally. Lance Blanks, after scoring a highlight reel shot off the glass with a foul, celebrated by demonstrating what became known as the "Lance Dance." The party was on. Texas pulled away to win 102-89.
The Drag went nuts. March Madness, for the first time in my lifetime, was alive and well in Austin, Texas.
Then came the Elite Eight matchup against our SEC nemesis, Arkansas. This was the talented Hog team that featured Todd Day, Lee Mayberry, and "Big O" Oliver Miller. Texas had always struggled to beat those Hog teams. That same year, we held a lead at home and Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson walked off the court in protest to a call, earning the nickname "Strollin' Nolan." To everyone's surprise, Arkansas sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer and handed the Horns a gut-wrenching loss.
This time around, Arkansas went out to a 16-point lead in the second half and seemed to be on the way to a blowout. But Texas again rallied, thanks to timely steals and missed Arkansas free throws, to cut the lead to 3 in the final minute with the ball in their hands. Travis Mays launched a long 3-pointer from the top of the key that hit the front of the rim and bounced forward. He then launched himself forward into a pile of players and fouled out, the last moments in his illustrious Longhorn career.
A trip to the Final Four was not to be for this Cinderella Horn team, but what a ride it was.
And Texas fans have been hooked on college basketball ever since.
