A year ago, the University of Mary Washington men’s basketball team entered the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament as underdogs, and the Eagles sprung a pair of upsets to advance to the Sweet 16.
This time around, the roles are reversed.
UMW will host the first two rounds of the tournament in a four-team pod that includes three Massachusetts schools beginning Friday at Ron Rosner Arena. The Eagles (24-3) will host Worcester State (15-12) at 7 p.m. following a 5 p.m. matchup between Amherst (18-7) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (21-5).
“It’s nice to not be on a bus to Massachusetts,” UMW head coach Marcus Kahn said on Wednesday. “Being able to have these first-round games at home is a huge advantage. Our guys get to sleep in their own beds, eat the food they’re used to and practice in our own facility.”
While the Eagles enter the tourney as one of the favorites looking not to be upset this season, one thing is similar to last year. They’re coming in with momentum, having won the Coast-2-Coast (C2C) Athletic Conference tournament once again.
UMW avenged an 86-77 regular-season loss to Christopher Newport back on Feb. 4 by routing the Captains 88-58 in last Saturday’s conference championship game. Kye Robinson scored a game-high 22 points, while Jay Randall added 18 and Ulysses Young and Kaden Bates chipped in 14 and 13, respectively.
The Eagles’ defense also stood out, as it held CNU to just 8-of-33 (24%) shooting after intermission. That was a big reason why UMW turned a 40-33 halftime lead into a blowout.
The win was also the Eagles’ sixth in a row, coming after a two-game losing streak that included the Feb. 4 loss to the Captains and an 84-75 setback at Randolph-Macon on Feb. 7.
“You never like losing, but it was probably a good thing that we were exposed in a couple areas by two top-10 teams,” Kahn said. “And so the conversation we had after that was about staying the course and correcting those things so that we could finish strong and come into the NCAA tourney on solid footing.”
It took UMW no time at all to rebound, as it topped CNU 88-77 in its next contest. Robinson poured in 25, Randall had 21, and Bates tallied 18.
The Eagles easily dispatched Salisbury, Southern Virginia and California-Santa Cruz to close out the regular season, then beat Salisbury 55-46 in the conference tournament semifinals.
Robinson is enjoying a banner sophomore campaign, averaging 24.6 points per outing and earning C2C player of the year honors. Bates was named the conference’s defensive player of the year after notching a league-best 47 steals.
Worcester State is in nearly the exact same position UMW was at this time last year. While the Lancers are barely above .500, they just won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MSCAC) tourney and thus have a ton of momentum.
Sophomore forward Joe Okla is Worcester State’s top player, averaging 14.9 points and nine rebounds per game. Senior forward Johnny Annan is right behind him at 11.5 points and 6.2 rebounds.
“They’re dangerous, because they’re athletic, they’re quick, and they rebound,” Kahn said. “And rebounding is something that we need to improve on. So we’re going to have our hands full.”
The winners of Friday’s games will tip-off at 7 p.m. Saturday for the right to advance to the Sweet 16.
