By Jim Vertuno
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - Royal Ivey is always trying to get into an opponent's head and looking for laughs to keep Texas loose.

He's also the Longhorns' toughest defender, drawing the assignment of matching up with an opponent's best perimeter scorer.

"Everybody wants to score in basketball. Nobody wants to do the dirty work," Ivey said. "It's fun for me."

Steals, turnovers and missed shots are sure to turn on Ivey's motor mouth on the court.

"When Royal gets in somebody's head," center James Thomas said, "it's lights out."

He targets his teammates, too, notably Texas' stellar point guard T.J. Ford.

It was Ivey who nicknamed Ford "Rat." During warmups before the East Regional final against Michigan State, Ivey teased Ford about his erratic jump shot, calling for "T with no J."

And when asked which player out there could shut Ford down, only one came to mind: Royal Ivey.

"I do it in practice every day," Ivey said with a smile, drawing a big laugh from Ford and a room full of reporters.

"That's my teammate," Ivey said. "I know all his moves."

And who's to argue? Texas coach Rick Barnes doesn't open his practices to the media, so only the Longhorns know what goes on behind closed doors.

"Our guards go at it every day," is all Thomas will divulge. "When he and T.J. go one-on-one, look out."

As Texas heads into its first Final Four since 1947 Saturday night against Syracuse, Ivey's next assignment is the Orangemen's star freshman forward Carmelo Anthony. Unlike the 5-foot-10 Ford, Anthony is a load at 6-8, 220 pounds, giving him 5 inches and 30 pounds over Ivey.

"He is a tough matchup," Barnes said. "Roy would be the guy that would start on him."

Ivey credits his development as a defender to his days as a dancer in high school in New York City. He danced his way into the Cardozo magnet high school where he took courses in ballet and hip-hop.

A shuffle here and a slide-step there help him stay with opponents on the court now.

"Defense is about coordination and timing," Ivey said. "Dancing helps with those."

Ivey started 26 games at point guard as a freshman at Texas before Ford arrived. He earned his reputation as a defensive stopper when he shut down former Stanford All-American Casey Jacobson in a Texas win in 2001.

Ivey held Jacobson to nine points on 3-for-17 shooting, jawing at him the whole game. He still calls that his best performance in both defending and getting into an opponent's head.

"I let him know I was going to be with him all day. He kind of smiled at me like, 'Man, you can't guard me.' Then the ball went up and I shut him down," Ivey said.

One of his best games in the NCAA tournament came in a second-round win over Purdue. Ivey helped keep the Boilermakers' leading scorer Willie Deane to 13 points, five below his average, on 4-for-17 shooting. Deane missed all seven of his second-half shots.

Next, it's Anthony.

Ivey confines his on-court verbal jabs to subtle, under-the-breath braggadocio meant solely for the ears of the intended target. He won't say what message he'll have for Anthony.

"I can't give out my lines," he said.