TAMPA, Fla. – As much as Western enjoyed the moment from yesterday’s thrilling 101-99 win against Drake and the attention they have received from the national media scene, the Toppers still have another game.
Next up is 13th-seeded San Diego.
And after receiving more than 170 text messages, yesterday’s hero, senior guard Ty Rogers is ready to move on to the West Coast Conference Tournament champions, San Diego.
“We kind of enjoyed yesterday throughout the day and last night,” Rogers said. “But we woke up this morning that we had to focus on San Diego and start preparing.
In what was one of the craziest days in NCAA History, no higher seed won on Friday in the games played at Tampa.
The Toreros beat UCONN in similar fashion to how Western got past Drake.
San Diego guard De’Jon Jackson hit a basket on the right wing, just inside the three-point line with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime.
The win set up a rare match between a 12th seed and a 13th seed, with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen on the line. The Toreros and Toppers tip off at 1:40 p.m, Sunday in Tampa.
“Yesterday was Yesterday,” senior forward Boris Siakam said. “We’re just preparing for tomorrow. We have pretty smart guys over here. Everyone knows what they’re supposed to do and we want to get out and practice. That win was a good motivation tomorrow.”
The Torreros knocked off St. Mary’s in double-overtime before beating Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
On Friday, the Toreros were led by forward Gyno Pomare’s 22 points. Forward Rob Jones also added 14, and guard Brandon Johnson scored 18 points.
San Diego starts two freshmen and a sophomore, but Horn isn’t willing to play the experience card, with his senior-laden Hilltoppers.
“I didn’t even know they had four freshmen playing because I was looking at the players and breaking down film,” Horn said. “It wasn’t until I checked the roster after I had done a lot of film work late last night that I realized they were young.”
With the experience factor, San Diego coach Bill Grier is willing to call his team the underdog.
“They’re 28-6,” Grier said. “Had a heck of a year.”
Probably because of the fashion in which Western won on Friday, it was difficult to find a player on Friday that wasn’t still talking about the experience and exposure the team has received from Rogers’ game winning shot.
“Seeing on ourselves on ESPN and CBS, it’s amazing,” sophomore guard A.J. Slaughter said. “Guys really don’t get to experience things like this team has experienced.”
It’s the first time since 1995 Western has advanced to the second round and no other Sun Belt Conference team has advanced either since 1995.
“It’s an awesome feeling,” junior guard Orlando Mendez-Valdez. “It’s something we always thought about from the beginning of the year. A lot of people didn’t believe we could go this far but we did and the only thing that’s holding us back (from the Sweet Sixteen) is another game.”
Horn doesn’t find it as an unlikely scenario that Western and San Diego are playing for a chance to advance.
“You don’t get to the tournament in the manner that they go to the tournament, go into Kentucky and win on the road and not be a good basketball team,” Horn said. “So I think in terms of seeding there is some surprise to that, but that really comes true for what happened in this building all day yesterday. Now that is amazing. But for one particular match-up with two teams that are pretty good basketball teams is not shocking.”
Grier said that if he would have been told at the beginning of the season that Sunday’s scenario would have been the case with the match-up, he would have told them they were crazy.
“I think it just speaks volumes for the parity in college basketball,” Grier said. “And to have Tampa have so many upsets yesterday, just in terms of the seeding. I think that’s what makes the NCAA Tournament so special and what draws so much interest to it.”
Reach Andrew Robinson at sports@chherald.com.
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