X Factor: Musketeers vs. Longhorns : Midwest Regional: Xavier and Texas both have talented teams to go along with quotable coaches.

Xavier basketball Coach Pete Gillen likens his team to a cure for the common cold.

Why is that?

“We’re both waiting to be discovered,” he said.

The nation is quickly discovering Xavier’s surprising team, which upset third-seeded Georgetown, 74-71, last Sunday to reach the NCAA’s Sweet 16 for the first time.

Xavier (28-4) will play Texas (23-8) in a Midwest Regional semifinal game tonight at Reunion Arena.

A master motivator, Gillen made an emotional speech to his players before the Georgetown game, telling them not to be intimidated by the Hoyas.

“It wasn’t a Knute Rockne speech,” Gillen said. “If I give a Knute Rockne speech, guys are snoring and want to know who he is. Basically, I told the kids to believe in themselves.”

Did the Musketeers believe they could advance this far?

“I think we worked pretty hard this year, and it’s coming into play right now,” guard Michael Davenport said. “It’s just a testament that hard work pays off.”

And no one has worked harder than Gillen, who has helped transform the tiny Jesuit college in suburban Cincinnati into one of the nation’s more successful basketball schools.

Since taking over in 1985, Gillen has led Xavier into the NCAA tournament the last five seasons. But the Musketeers didn’t stick around long, as they were eliminated in the first round the last two years, losing to the eventual champions--Kansas in 1988 and Michigan in ’89.

“We’re the official hors d’oeuvres of the tournament,” Gillen said. “But we want to change that.”

And the Musketeers have changed that. Perhaps college basketball’s best-kept secret because of their lack of TV exposure, Xavier is getting plenty of attention now.

And Gillen seems to relish the spotlight.

“Tournament time is special,” he said. “I’ve got a suite at the hotel and I need a map because it’s bigger than my house. But you realize that we could be back home scrubbing the cat. When it ends, it ends with a thud. So you’d better enjoy it. You’d better take that little mint before you go to sleep. If you’re in Camelot for a couple of weeks, you might as well enjoy it. Then again, my kids probably think Camelot is some kind of wine.”

A native New Yorker who retains his Brooklyn accent, Gillen is ever ready with a quip. During news conferences, he sounds as though he’s auditioning for a comedy club. The Xavier sports information office has even compiled a four-page list of his best lines.

A few Gillen one-liners:

--On picking a winner of the NCAA tournament: “I haven’t picked a winner since Moby Dick was a minnow.”

--On playing cross-town rival Cincinnati: “We’re not eating or sleeping. We’re like Gandhi.”

--On himself: “I’m just a Joe Bag of Doughnuts, Harvey Sweatsocks. I’m just Joe Slice of Pizza.”

Is Gillen as funny with his players as he is with the media?

“That’s Coach Gillen,” forward Tyrone Hill said. “You never know what to expect. When there’s a lot of pressure on you, he loosens you up.”

Because of the success he has enjoyed at Xavier, where he has won 20 or more games four times, Gillen’s name pops up for coaching vacancies at other schools. Does Gillen plan to capitalize on his reputation to land a new job?

“I don’t have much money because every three weeks I send checks to 210 writers that mention my name for jobs,” Gillen said. “Seriously, it is flattering. It gets a little uncomfortable because you don’t want the players to be distracted. I’m very happy where I’m at, but you’ve always got to look.”

Gillen has paid his dues.

After graduating from Fairfield (Conn.) University, he began his coaching career at a Catholic grade school in Brooklyn.

“I had guys on the team who hung around car washes,” Gillen said. “They had scars on their head. They were like dead-end kids. Guys who live at the end of blocks with no shoes.”

After two years at the grade school, Gillen was hired as the freshman coach at his alma mater, Brooklyn Prep. Two years later, he was elevated to coaching the varsity, which he guided to a 31-11 mark. After the school closed because of financial troubles, he left for Nazarene Regional High School, and later became an assistant at the University of Hawaii.

After Hawaii was placed on NCAA probation, Gillen moved to Virginia Military Institute for two seasons. He then left for Villanova, where he spent two years assisting Rollie Massimino.

“Working with Rollie, I ate in every Italian restaurant from Maine to Florida,” Gillen said. “Garlic was my middle name.”

Finally, after five seasons as Digger Phelps’ top assistant at Notre Dame, Gillen was hired by Xavier.

“Pete has always had a real feel for the game,” said Texas Coach Tom Penders, a longtime friend of Gillen’s. “He has always been a person everybody liked. He never seemed to lose perspective. Some guys can be successful, but they’re so one-dimensional, it’s sickening.”

While Gillen has received much of the attention because of his personality, Xavier has two potential NBA first-round draft choices--Hill and center Derek Strong. Strong, a 6-foot-10 senior from Palisades High, is averaging 13.8 points and 9.8 rebounds a game. Hill, a 6-10 senior, is averaging 20.1 points and 12.5 rebounds.

The Musketeers also have a good shooting guard in Jamal Walker, a 5-11 junior averaging 15.1 points and 3.5 rebounds.

After playing its best game of the season to beat Georgetown, Xavier must face a Texas team that upset second-seeded Purdue, 73-72, last Sunday.

The Longhorns, who finished third in the Southwest Conference, have traded in their cowboy boots for Cinderella’s glass slippers.

“We’re not here on luck or because Cinderella didn’t want to go, we’re here because we should be here,” Texas guard Lance Blanks said.

Does Texas feel vindicated by its postseason success?

“We felt we were a team that had to prove something all year long,” Travis Mays said. “We were a team that was looked upon as not being able to win any big games on national TV. And now we’ve won two of the biggest games of the season on national TV.”

After containing Georgetown’s strong front line of Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo, Xavier will try to stall Texas’ BMW--guards Blanks, Mays and Joey Wright. Blanks is averaging 20.2 points, Mays 24.0 and Wright 19.2.

“Their BMW is very tough to stop,” Gillen said. “Defense, we think is a town in Bolivia. Our idea of defense is to let their guy get 22, and if we get 24, then we’re successful. (But) we’d better play defense tomorrow or we could be in serious trouble.”