HOUSTON — All those hours on the exercise bike, all those yummy desserts he skipped — it all finally paid off for Texas center Dexter Pittman.

The guy with the wide body and the baby face used every ounce of his girth to pound and pester Stanford's 7-foot Lopez twins, wearing them down like a boxer throwing body blows. Once they slowed, D.J. Augustin and Texas' usual stars ripped off a 20-3 run, sending the Longhorns past the Cardinal, 82-62, in an NCAA South Regional semifinal last night.

"Dex did a great job," said Augustin, who scored eight of his 23 points during the game-breaking run. "He put his body against him and I don't think Brook could handle that weight."

Damion James scored 18 points and A.J. Abrams scored 12. Augustin added seven assists and five rebounds, and Justin Mason had seven points, eight rebounds and six assists, providing plenty of thrills for the tens of thousands of Texas (31-6) fans at Reliant Stadium.

The crowd turned quiet when Stanford (28-8) made it 52-51, but then Lopez went out, Augustin turned a loose ball into a one-man fast break and the rout was on.

When James threw down a dunk so electrifying that he began celebrating on his way down, the Longhorns faithful knew they'd better find another burnt orange shirt because they will be coming back tomorrow for a game against Memphis with a spot in the Final Four on the line.

Pittman is an unlikely star. A sophomore who arrived in Austin weighing 366 pounds, he's down to 299 but still only a bit player. This time, coach Rick Barnes made him the first guy off the bench and told him to make sure Brook and Robin Lopez felt his presence in the most obvious way.

Brook went from scoring 24 of Stanford's first 48 points to not making a basket over the final 13:55.

"I felt he was getting frustrated because I heard him talking," said Pittman, who had four points and six rebounds in 10 minutes. "My goal was to make sure I keep my body at him on all times — whenever the ball goes up, whenever the ball is in the guard's hands, make sure my body is on him. Even on offense, I could clear the lane out and move him where he couldn't block shots."

In the interview room, Brook turned his head away when asked questions about Pittman.

"I think I just stopped playing aggressive since he was guarding me, throwing up low-percentage shots," Lopez said. "He just bodied up against me and tried to push me off the lane."STANFORD (28-8)

B.Lopez 10-22 6-6 26, Washington 0-2 1-4 1, R.Lopez 3-9 0-0 6, Johnson 2-10 0-2 6, Goods 0-7 0-0 0, Fields 3-6 3-4 11, Shiller 0-0 0-0 0, Hill 2-5 0-0 5, Brown 1-1 0-0 3, Owens 0-0 0-0 0, Finger 1-2 2-2 4, Prowitt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-65 12-18 62.

TEXAS (31-6)

James 6-13 5-7 18, Atchley 4-5 1-1 10, Abrams 5-14 0-0 12, Augustin 10-18 1-2 23, Mason 2-8 2-3 7, Johnson 0-0 1-2 1, Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Wangmene 0-0 0-0 0, Mooney 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 1-1 1-1 3, Pittman 2-4 0-2 4, Chapman 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 32-65 11-18 82.

Halftime—Texas 43-34. 3-Point Goals—Stanford 6-17 (Fields 2-4, Johnson 2-7, Brown 1-1, Hill 1-2, Goods 0-3), Texas 7-22 (Augustin 2-4, Abrams 2-8, Atchley 1-2, Mason 1-4, James 1-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Stanford 42 (B.Lopez 10), Texas 42 (Mason 8). Assists—Stanford 13 (Johnson 8), Texas 16 (Augustin 7). Total Fouls—Stanford 14, Texas 14. A—NA.

MEMPHIS 92, MICHIGAN STATE 74

HOUSTON — Pity those poor, vulnerable Memphis Tigers.

You know, the ones who just made mincemeat out of yet another team that was supposed to end their stay in the NCAA tournament.

This time, they took it out on fifth-seeded Michigan State, embarrassing yet again all those naysayers who suggested Memphis (36-1) was the most suspect of the top seeds.

The final score last night: Memphis 92, Michigan State 74, but really, it was worse than that.

"Everyone picked us to lose. We were the upset special," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "That was us. We were going to get outplayed, outcoached, outskilled, outhustled, out-this, out-that, and we can't shoot free throws."

Didn't quite play out that way.

Freshman Derrick Rose will play at least one more college game after a 27-point, five-assist night that showed he's ready for the NBA. Chris Douglas-Roberts finished with 23 points.

Meanwhile, Michigan State senior Drew Neitzel's career is over, and this was no way to end it. He was held to six points.

The Tigers went on a 15-0 run to close the first half and take a 50-20 lead over Michigan State (27-9).

"It just got out of hand so quickly," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said.

This is the third straight year Calipari's team has made it this far. The two previous trips ended in the regional finals.

Goran Suton led the Spartans with 23 points and nine rebounds.

MICHIGAN ST. (27-9)

Morgan 2-6 3-6 7, Suton 11-14 0-0 23, Naymick 2-5 0-0 4, Lucas 3-7 5-6 11, Neitzel 2-8 0-0 6, Ibok 0-0 0-0 0, Allen 8-15 2-3 20, Walton 0-1 0-0 0, Summers 1-3 1-2 3, Dahlman 0-0 0-0 0, Gray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 11-17 74.

MEMPHIS (36-1)

Dozier 3-7 3-6 9, Dorsey 3-4 0-2 6, Anderson 3-10 3-3 10, Douglas-Roberts 7-12 11-12 25, Rose 10-16 6-7 27, Taggart 2-6 1-2 5, Kemp 2-2 2-2 8, Niles 1-1 0-0 2, Allen 0-1 0-1 0, Mack 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-59 26-35 92.

Halftime—Memphis 50-20. 3-Point Goals—Michigan St. 5-18 (Neitzel 2-7, Allen 2-8, Suton 1-1, Naymick 0-1, Lucas 0-1), Memphis 4-13 (Kemp 2-2, Rose 1-3, Anderson 1-4, Taggart 0-1, Allen 0-1, Douglas-Roberts 0-2). Fouled Out—Allen, Lucas. Rebounds—Michigan St. 28 (Suton 9), Memphis 39 (Dozier 10). Assists—Michigan St. 18 (Neitzel 7), Memphis 13 (Rose 5). Total Fouls—Michigan St. 28, Memphis 16. A—32,931.

— By Eddie Pells