(5) Connecticut vs. (1) Texas

SAN ANTONIO (TICKER) —T.J. Ford and Emeka Okafor have competed against each other numerous times in the Houston area. Now the stakes are higher.

Ford and top-seeded Texas tries to take advantage of a partisan crowd at the Alamodome on Friday when it meets Okafor and No. 5 Connecticut in the semifinals of the South Region.

Ford and Okafor are both sophomores from Houston, who faced each other on numerous occasions in summer league games in the famed Fonde League. Both are considering jumps to the NBA.

Texas (24-6) has won 10 out of 12 games and has reached the “Sweet 16” for the second straight year for the first time in school history. T.J. Ford dominated the final phases of the game as the Longhorns posted a 77-67 victory over Purdue on Sunday.

Ford, named the Naismith Award winner on Monday, celebrated his 20th birthday a day early by scoring 16 of his 21 points in the second half on Sunday. James Thomas added 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Texas shooting guard Brandon Mouton is trying to bounce back from a 2-of-7 performance on Sunday when he was limited to six points, his lowest total since January 18.

The Longhorns will be bolstered by playing in San Antonio, just an hour-and-a-half drive from their Austin campus. The last time Texas played in San Antonio was a 70-54 victory over Temple on February 19, 1995.

Connecticut (23-9) can give coach Jim Calhoun his 400th victory with the school and reach a regional final for the second straight year. The Huskies lost to Maryland in the East Region final a year ago.

Okafor is the key to the Huskies’ success and comes off an 18-point, 15-rebound performance in last Saturday’s 85-74 victory over Stanford in the second round. Okafor is averaging 15.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.7 blocks.

His scoring partner is Ben Gordon, who scored 18 of his 29 points in the second half of Saturday. Gordon is averaging 19.7 points to lead the Huskies.

The task of trying to contain Ford falls to junior point guard Taliek Brown, who has played well for UConn recently. Brown, who missed four games with a broken finger earlier in the year, played against Ford for a Houston-area AAU team in his high school days.

The Huskies have won five out of six, losing only to Pittsburgh in that span.

Texas won the last meeting between the schools with a 60-56 victory on January 15, 2001 that marked the Longhorns’ first win against Connecticut in four meetings.

The winner will meet Maryland or Michigan State in the regional final.