The men's basketball team is an early 20-point favorite over Texas Southern, but Tiger head coach Robert Moreland doesn't care.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, the 19th-year coach of the 1994 Southwest Athletic Conference champions made it clear that his squad will mean business Friday in its first-round NCAA Tournament game against Duke. The second-seeded Blue Devils and No. 15 Tigers are scheduled for a 7:35 p.m. tip-off at the Southeast Regional in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"Let me tell you something," Moreland said. "We've won 13 games in a row. We plan to make it a 14th. We won our last game [against Jackson State in the SWAC tournament finals]. Duke lost theirs.
"We're going to Florida to win. We're not worried about just having a good time."
Moreland and Texas Southern (19-10) are not new to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers won the SWAC in 1990 and received the league's automatic bid to the Big Dance, where they were summarily dispatched by Georgetown in the first round.
But Moreland said his squad wasn't as focused on winning in the tournament in 1990 as it is now.
"We were not ready to play the basketball game in 1990," Moreland said. "Our kids were satisfied after beating Southern University in the SWAC tournament."
Moreland said that in 1989 a controversial call in a Texas Southern-Southern game had gone against the Tigers. The next season, Moreland's team was so intent on beating Southern in the SWAC that the NCAA game against Georgetown just didn't matter.
"The bad call was something our kids didn't forget," Moreland said. "After we beat Southern, our season was over."
This season, Moreland continued, Texas Southern has been intent all year on winning the SWAC and moving on to the NCAAs. The Tigers swept through regular season SWAC play with a 12-2 record, and then won the tournament last Sunday in Baton Rouge, La.
Outside of the conference, the Tigers have played several teams on Duke's level, but have not fared particularly well.
In the first game of the year Jason Kidd's California team visited Houston and came away with an 82-70 victory. Marquette, the sixth seed in the Southeast, beat the Tigers 85-67.
It gets worse. On Dec. 28, the Tigers visited Arkansas. With President Clinton in the stands, the Razorbacks destroyed Texas Southern 129-63.
"We just happened to scrimmage Arkansas that day," Moreland joked. "We met the president. We talked to the president. In our spare time, we went out on the court with Arkansas. It wasn't much of a game.
"But I'll tell you something. Arkansas did the same thing to Missouri that they did to us. And Missouri walked through the Big 8."
Moreland was referring to a 50-point Razorback win early in the year over Missouri, which went on to go undefeated in the Big 8 regular season and is a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs.
Texas Southern's coach is certainly confident, but his players will ultimately have to get the job done. The Tigers utilize a three-guard attack that could give Duke's inconsistent perimeter defense trouble. Kevin Granger, a 6-3 sophomore, scored 31 points in Texas Southern's 70-67 win over Jackson State in the SWAC finals.
Moreland said that the team just returned to Houston Monday, so serious preparation for Duke has not begun. But the Tigers should have no trouble familiarizing themselves with Blue Devil personnel.
"I've watched Duke so many times on TV that I feel they are a member of our conference," Moreland said. "I really enjoy watching them play.
"But when the ball goes up Friday, I stop liking Duke. I want to win."
NOTES: Texas Southern's 13-game winning streak dates back to a Jan. 22 win over Alcorn State...Duke and Texas Southern have never met on the basketball court...Only twice in the history of the 64-team NCAA field has a No. 15 seed knocked off a No. 2 seed in the first round. In 1990, Richmond stunned Syracuse, and last year Santa Clara knocked off Arizona.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.