COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT REPORT : WEST REGIONAL : Rematch of ’89 Is Special for Stewart

No matter what happens at the Sports Arena on Thursday night, Missouri Coach Norm Stewart is in better shape than he was the last time the Tigers played Syracuse.

“This is a better deal for me,” Stewart said in Columbia, Mo., on Tuesday.

But when the Orangemen beat Missouri, 83-80, on March 24, 1989, Stewart was in no shape to be behind the bench. He had undergone treatment for colon cancer and a diseased gallbladder and was too weak to even think about getting back to coaching.

“I was just trying to get well,” he says.

Stewart, 59, has made a full recovery and will not miss the final 16 matchup this time around, although he acknowledges that while he hasn’t slowed down much, there is a difference. He said the simple knowledge that he is “on the right side of the grass” has given him a new perspective.

“I’m not as instinctive as I used to be,” he said.

The Tigers, seeded No. 1 in the West, are making their fifth trip to the final 16. Their best finish under Stewart was in 1976, when they lost in the regional finals to Michigan.

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Louisville Coach Denny Crum says defense has been the difference for his Cardinals this season.

“We’ve not gotten any credit for our defense,” Crum says. “Nobody thinks of Louisville playing defense, but defense is what has carried us.”

Louisville has limited 21 opponents to less than 42% shooting and 40.5% overall in 33 games. The Cardinals also average nine steals.

Louisville, which has won eight of its last nine games, will be tested by an Arizona offense that is averaging 90.2 points. The Wildcats have made a school-record 258 three-point shots.