Still giddy from the euphoria after one the biggest wins in his coaching career, Cameron Dollar gave an honest answer when asked about the Redhawks? next opponent.
What do you know about Loyola Chicago?
?Not a thing,? he said laughing following Monday night?s surprising 72-65 win over Colorado. ?I know they?re a Jesuit school like we are.?
Did he know its mascot?
?Nope, no clue,? he replied. ?But it?s fun, though.?
Indeed, these are happy times for the Seattle University men?s basketball team (18-16), which plays at Loyola Chicago (21-13) at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the College Basketball Invitational semifinals.
The Redhawks are making the most of their first nonconference Division I postseason appearance since 1969. They pummeled Pepperdine 62-45 in the tournament opener and overcame a nine-point, second-half deficit to upset Colorado in front of a lively sellout crowd of 999 at Connolly Center.
Tuesday morning Seattle U flew to the Windy City and spent the past 24 hours learning as much it could about the Loyola Chicago. For starters, its mascot is the Ramblers.
Loyola?s previous nonconference postseason appearance was the 1985 NCAA tourney. The Ramblers finished sixth in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference. They?ve won five of their past six games, including an 86-78 victory over Oral Roberts in Monday?s quarterfinal matchup and a 62-59 win over Rider in the CBI opener.
Milton Doyle, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, leads the Ramblers in scoring (11.6 points per game) and assists (4.5). Christian Thomas, a 6-5 senior forward, averages 11.3 points and 4.4 rebounds for Loyola, which averages 63 points.
Defensively, Loyola is allowing 32.3 percent shooting on three-pointers and has given up 63 or less points in 11 of its last 14 games.
The Ramblers are 11-6 at Gentile Center this season, while the Redhawks are 2-9 in road games.
?We?re just excited for this opportunity,? said senior guard Isiah Umipig, who leads SU with a 17.0 scoring average. ?We?re in the Final Four now, and we?re just trying to take it game by game and keep concentrating on our defensive rebounding. We think we can win it all. We?re just going to keep continuing to get better.?
Louisiana Monroe (23-12) hosts Vermont (20-13) in the other semifinal. The best-of-three championship series begins Monday. Game 2 is April 1 and Game 3, if needed, is April 3.
?It continues to be fun times,? Dollar said. ?You?re just soaking it all up and taking it in. We?ve never been in this situation. We?re going to enjoy it. We?re going to rest up and we?re going to go play. Really focus in on the basketball game and also taking it all in.
?You?re fortunate in your life to do experiences and to have situations that you?ve never had before. You could never even dream of being in this situation where you?re winning one game one day and then you?re flying across the country and you?re getting ready to play Loyola Chicago.?
What do you know about Loyola Chicago?
?Not a thing,? he said laughing following Monday night?s surprising 72-65 win over Colorado. ?I know they?re a Jesuit school like we are.?
Did he know its mascot?
?Nope, no clue,? he replied. ?But it?s fun, though.?
Indeed, these are happy times for the Seattle University men?s basketball team (18-16), which plays at Loyola Chicago (21-13) at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the College Basketball Invitational semifinals.
The Redhawks are making the most of their first nonconference Division I postseason appearance since 1969. They pummeled Pepperdine 62-45 in the tournament opener and overcame a nine-point, second-half deficit to upset Colorado in front of a lively sellout crowd of 999 at Connolly Center.
Tuesday morning Seattle U flew to the Windy City and spent the past 24 hours learning as much it could about the Loyola Chicago. For starters, its mascot is the Ramblers.
Loyola?s previous nonconference postseason appearance was the 1985 NCAA tourney. The Ramblers finished sixth in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference. They?ve won five of their past six games, including an 86-78 victory over Oral Roberts in Monday?s quarterfinal matchup and a 62-59 win over Rider in the CBI opener.
Milton Doyle, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, leads the Ramblers in scoring (11.6 points per game) and assists (4.5). Christian Thomas, a 6-5 senior forward, averages 11.3 points and 4.4 rebounds for Loyola, which averages 63 points.
Defensively, Loyola is allowing 32.3 percent shooting on three-pointers and has given up 63 or less points in 11 of its last 14 games.
The Ramblers are 11-6 at Gentile Center this season, while the Redhawks are 2-9 in road games.
?We?re just excited for this opportunity,? said senior guard Isiah Umipig, who leads SU with a 17.0 scoring average. ?We?re in the Final Four now, and we?re just trying to take it game by game and keep concentrating on our defensive rebounding. We think we can win it all. We?re just going to keep continuing to get better.?
Louisiana Monroe (23-12) hosts Vermont (20-13) in the other semifinal. The best-of-three championship series begins Monday. Game 2 is April 1 and Game 3, if needed, is April 3.
?It continues to be fun times,? Dollar said. ?You?re just soaking it all up and taking it in. We?ve never been in this situation. We?re going to enjoy it. We?re going to rest up and we?re going to go play. Really focus in on the basketball game and also taking it all in.
?You?re fortunate in your life to do experiences and to have situations that you?ve never had before. You could never even dream of being in this situation where you?re winning one game one day and then you?re flying across the country and you?re getting ready to play Loyola Chicago.?
