Bryce Drew knows all about shining moments in the NCAA Tournament. His task now is to create more.
Drew’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer lifted No. 13 seed Valparaiso to a 70-69 victory over No. 4 seed Ole Miss in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament, and Valpo rode that wave to the Sweet Sixteen.
Drew, now the fifth-year coach at Grand Canyon, finds himself in a familiar situation when the 13th-seeded Antelopes (26-7) meet fourth-seeded Maryland (25-8) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s West Region in Seattle on Friday.
Grand Canyon advanced to its third straight NCAA Tournament by defeating WAC regular-season champion Utah Valley 89-82 in the conference tournament final, securing its third consecutive title.
Maryland fell a half-second short of making the Big Ten championship game, losing 81-80 when Michigan’s Tre Donaldson took the ball the length of the court for a game-winning layup.
The teams feature similar balanced attacks and disparate experience. All five Grand Canyon starters have appeared in multiple NCAA Tournaments, while only one Terrapin — Julian Reese — has appeared in March Madness action.
Grand Canyon’s JaKobe Coles led four double-figure scorers with a 14.8 average in the regular season and was named the WAC tournament’s most outstanding player after averaging 19.7 points.
Coles followed current teammates Tyon Grant-Foster and Ray Harrison as the WAC tournament’s most outstanding player. The 12th-seeded Lopes upset fifth-seed Saint Mary’s in the first round last season before falling to fourth-seeded Alabama.
“You get to high-level games, you need high-level players.” said Drew, whose team has won 15 of its past 17 games. “I’m thankful I have these three (Grant-Foster, Coles and Harrison) next to me.”
Maryland center Derik Queen, the Big Ten freshman of the year, leads the Terps in scoring (16.3 points) and is tied with Reese for the team lead in rebounds at 9.0. All five starters are averaging at least 12.0 points per game.
“I do have a lot of guys that have never been in the NCAA Tournament,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said. “That’s why I love the NCAA Tournament. Derik Queen was like a fat kid in the chocolate factory. He was so giddy and so excited.”
Queen scored 50 points in two Big Ten tournament games, a blowout win over Illinois and the loss to Michigan. The Terrapins have won eight of their last 10, and they have won their past three NCAA first-round games.
“What makes Derik so unique is that he has an old-school feel to the way he plays basketball,” Willard said. “He loves the game. He is a great teammate.”
Maryland, known as the “Crab Five,” used the portal to build around Queen and Reese, adding backcourt transfers Rodney Rice (Virginia Tech), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Belmont) and Selton Miguel (South Florida).
The Terrapins are shooting 37.3 percent from 3-point range and average only 10.3 turnovers per game, among the fewest in Division I.
“It really was building a roster around those two big guys,” Willard said of his offseason plan.
Grant-Foster and Harrison opted to return to Grand Canyon for a fifth and final season, and Coles transferred in from TCU for his fifth year.
“You love having veteran guys like this that know how to handle themselves,” Drew said. “They know what it takes to play in big-time games. It’s such a blessing to play in the NCAA Tournament.
“They are getting a chance to do what they came back to do.”
–Field Level Media
