Bryce Drew knows everything about brilliant moments in the NCAA tournament. His task now is to create more.
Drews Buzzer-Beating 3-pointer Lifting No. 13 Frö Valparaiso to a 70-69 victory over No. 4 Seed Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 1998 and Valpo rode the wave to the sweet sixteen.
Drew, now the fifth year coach at the Grand Canyon, is 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 western region in Seattle on Friday.
Grand Canyon advanced to his third straight NCAA tournament by defeating WAC’s regular season champion Utah Valley 89-82 in the conference tournament finals and securing its third title in a row.
Maryland fell a half-seconds to make the Big Ten Championship game and lost 81-80 when Michigan’s three Donaldson took the ball length on the track for a winning arrangement.
The law has similar balanced attacks and various experiences. All five Grand Canyon starts have appeared in several NCAA tournaments, while only one terrapin – Julian Reese – has appeared in March Madness Action.
Grand Canyon’s Jakobe Coles led four double-digit scores with an average of 14.8 in the regular season and was named the WAC tournament’s most prominent player after an average of 19.7 points.
Coles followed current teammates Tyon Grant-fetus and Ray Harrison as the WAC tournament’s most prominent player. The 12th-seated Lopes upset Fifth-seed Saint Mary’s in the first round last season before they fell to fourth-seeded Alabama.
“You get to high -level gaming, you need high -level players.” said Drew, whose team has won 15 of their last 17 matches. “I am grateful that I have these three (Grant fetus, Coles and Harrison) next to me.”
Maryland Center Derik Queen, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, leads Terps in points (16.3 points) and is bound with Reese for the team in returns of 9.0. All five starters are on average at least 12.0 points per match.
“I have many guys who have never been to the NCAA tournament,” said Maryland coach Kevin Willard. “That’s why I love the NCAA tournament. Derik Queen was like a fat child in the chocolate factory. He was so tricky and so excited.”
Queen got 50 points in two Big Ten tournament games, an exhaust victory over Illinois and the loss to Michigan. Terrapins has won eight of their last 10, and they have won the last three NCAA games first round.
“What makes Derik so unique is that he has an old school feeling for how he plays basketball,” Willard said. “He loves the game. He’s a fantastic teammate.”
Maryland, known as “Crab Five”, used the portal to build around Queen and Reese and adds Backcourt to transfer Rodney Rice (Virginia Tech), Ja’kobi Gillespie (Belmont) and Selton Miguel (South Florida).
Terrapins shoot 37.3 percent from 3-point intervals and only 10.3 turnover per match, among the smallest in Division I.
“It was really to build a list around the two big guys,” Willard said about his seasonal plan.
Grant-Foster and Harrison chose to return to the Grand Canyon for a fifth and final season, and Coles was transferred from TCU for its fifth year.
“You love to have veteran guys like this who knows how to handle themselves,” Drew said. “They know what it takes to play in big games. It’s a blessing to play in the NCAA tournament.
“They get a chance to do what they came back to do.”
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