ATLANTA -- It won't rebuild any neighborhoods in New Orleans. It won't create any jobs so people can come home from Houston or Shreveport.

A basketball game won't make the levees any stronger or any higher.

But the LSU Tigers are happy if they've made the spirits of their people stronger and higher.

The Tigers are going to the Final Four for the first time in 20 years

They're going because of their homegrown heroes knocked off No. 1 seed Duke on Thursday, then outlasted No. 2 seed Texas, 70-60, in overtime Saturday at the Atlanta Regional at the Georgia Dome.

"This is about guys from Louisiana and Baton Rouge doing their thing against the best players in the country,'' said LSU freshman Tasmin Mitchell.

"You just want to bring it back to Louisiana because we've had some down times with Hurricane Katrina. We want to let the people of New Orleans know that we love them.''

When Katrina devastated New Orleans last August, Baton Rouge was spared but became a haven for the injured and displaced. Every corner of the city and the LSU campus were touched by the rescue efforts.

The LSU players all pitched in during the immediate aftermath when their home court, the Maravich Assembly Center, was turned into a triage center.

Glen Davis, the SEC player of the year, recalled this weekend how he held an IV bag for an injured Katrina victim then watched as he died.

And so after he helped bounce Texas out of the NCAA tournament, Davis grabbed a microphone and offered an emotional homage to the folks back home.

"I wanted to give a shout out to the people of Louisiana,'' said Davis, "I know a lot of things are going on right now and people are just trying to recuperate from what happened and this is something to push them in the right direction, of coming back home to New Orleans and having a good feeling about their state.''

Davis and his teammates feel Louisiana's pain. They're not hired guns from Chicago or Miami.

Three of the starters -- Davis, Garrett Temple and regional MVP Tyrus Thomas -- plus sixth-man Darnell Lazare are from Baton Rouge.

Tasmin Mitchell grew up 10 miles outside of town and the only senior, Darrell Mitchell, is from 45 minutes down the road in St. Martinville.

"They have their own way of communicating with each other, their own language, that I'm not privy to,'' said LSU coach John Brady.

Saturday, Davis and Thomas understood that this game was their mission. Like evacuees from Katrina, their teammates needed rescuing.

Mission accomplished. Davis scored 26 points and had nine rebounds. The big man stepped out of character to swish a huge 3-pointer (only his sixth of the year) early in overtime to put Texas in a seven-point deficit.

Thomas scored 21 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked two shots.

Between them, Davis and Thomas were 21-of-29 from the field. Their teammates were a combined 7-of-33.

In the second half, either Davis or Thomas scored every LSU point until Tasmin Mitchell finally drilled a 3-point shot with 4:44 to play.

"We're like blood brothers,'' said Thomas. "It was time to fight right there and when he fights, I fight.''

Said Davis, "We're all close, but there's a bond me and Tyrus have.

"We call each other brothers, 'brothers from another mother,' and like he says, when one fights, the other fights.

"We've got each other's back.''

For whatever emotional uplifting it's worth, Louisiana, this team has your back.