With good reason. First, his grandmother died unexpectedly on Tuesday and he found out just before he boarded the plane for Utah. Mihm was with her the previous night -- she was visiting from Wisconsin -- and took the news hard.

Wednesday he developed a 101-degree fever and spent most of the night in the training room. He finally returned to his room about midnight but got little sleep.

"It's been a helluva long two days,'' said Mihm, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. "It was a real restless night. I don't even think it has fully hit me. It's been emotional.''

So much so, that Mihm broke down in the locker room and cried after the game. As ecstatic as he was about the victory, he was mentally and physically exhausted.

"A lot of things on his mind,'' said forward Gabe Muoneke, his roommate. "You gotta give him a lot of credit for being tough. Not a lot of people would be able to do that.''

Mihm never thought about missing the game. Not after all the sweat and sacrifice the 24-8 Longhorns have put in this season. The NCAA Tournament is their reward, regardless of the circumstances, and they want to make the most of it.

"I knew I would play, even if I felt terrible,'' Mihm said. "We worked all year to get here. This game meant a lot and I wanted to be a part of it.''

Mihm neither looked or felt comfortable. He picked up his fourth foul on a charge with 10:16 remaining and the Sycamores closed to within three points. But his teammates came to the rescue, forward Chris Owens and guard Darren Kelly in particular, and Texas pulled away down the stretch.

"I was tired,'' Mihm said. "I kind of felt a little bit groggy. I tried to put everything aside, but it still creeps in''

Muoneke asked coach Rick Barnes to start Owens in his place. The two have been sharing time, but Muoneke has gotten the nod lately and noticed Owens has been down.

"You gotta bring it,'' Muoneke told Owens.

They both did. Owens scored 16 points and was 7-of-7 from the field, while Muoneke matched him on 7-of-8 shooting and added eight boards.

According to Muoneke, the best is yet to come for Owens, an explosive 6-8, 237-pound sophomore.

"I don't think anybody realizes what he is doing,'' Muoneke said. "He's the only guy who can black out and go nuts. He has that kind of talent. He's definitely the X-factor.''

As for Mihm, he's looking forward to a day of rest before Saturday's second-round game against LSU. Regardless of the outcome, he'll fly to Wisconsin on Monday for his grandmother's funeral. His parents were supposed to attend Thursday's game but have been busy making arrangements.

"Just a freak deal,'' Mihm said. "That's just life. Stuff happens.''

Wildcats romp

As expected, top-seeded Arizona had little trouble with 14th-seeded Jackson State -- on the court, at least. After a sluggish first half that saw both teams struggle with their outside shooting -- the Wildcats were 8-of-26 from the field and 1-of-6 in treys, while the Tigers were 8-of-27 and 0-of-8. Arizona rode the strong inside-out play of Michael Wright, Richard Jefferson and Gilbert Arenas for a 71-47 rout.

In the battle of the bands, Jackson State dominated. Granted, the Tigers were a little late, arriving at the Huntsman Center with 7:48 remaining in the first half. It seems they received the wrong tip-off time and were an hour off.

Both the band and cheerleaders were greeted by a lengthy standing ovation, partly because many fans had started to doze off. Once the band started playing it was no contest, the swaying, high-energy Tigers kicking butt. The cheerleaders also wowed the crowd with their skin-tight, silver lycra outfits and moves, and looked like the Supremes.

"We heard their band,'' Jefferson said. "I've been watching bands like Grambling all my life. That's what college basketball is all about. ... contrasting styles.''

Near-miss

Louisiana State hadn't reached the NCAA Tournament since 1993 and acted like it against Southeast Missouri State. Licking their chops coming in and hungry for national recognition, the fourth-seeded Tigers were lucky to beat the 13th-seeded Indians.

"I told Gary Garner his team played well enough and deserved to win,'' LSU coach John Brady said of his counterpart after the narrow 64-61 Houdini act, a game that featured 12 lead changes and three ties.

No question about that. Junior forward Brian Beshara, who had made two of his last 17 three-point attempts coming into the game, converted both tries against SMS, including the game-winner with 18 seconds remaining. It was his only field goal of the second half.

"I hadn't been shooting like I know I can,'' he said. "I'm just glad I was able to come through for the team.''

The Tigers had a decided height advantage, but they emerged with only a 36-35 rebounding edge and allowed 14 on the offensive end.

"I'm just glad we got the first game under our belt,'' center Jabari Smith said.

Beshara hails from Dallas, but insisted that has no added significance in Saturday's game against the Longhorns.

"Being from Texas, you're drowned in UT tradition,'' he said. "They're just another team.''