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Tulsa Preparing for Dayton in NCAA Tournament
3/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2003
Tulsa, Okla. - The University of Tulsa basketball team will be in action on the first day of NCAA tournament action as the "Dance" tips off on Thursday, March 20. Tulsa (22-9, 12-6 WAC), winners of the Western Athletic Conference post-season tournament, travels to Spokane, Washington, as the No. 13 seed, and will take on the No. 4 seed Dayton Flyers (24-5, 13-2 Atlantic-10).
Tulsa, winners of 20+ games for the first straight season and the 16th time in school history, is making its eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last 10 years. It is Tulsa's 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 12th since the 1982 tournament.
"We are tremendously excited to be back in the NCAA Tournament. With every opponent, no matter who we drew, we knew there would be a seeding difference and like always we'll go into this year's tournament with tremendous respect for our opponent," said Tulsa head Coach John Phillips. "I happened to see Dayton's game against Temple in the Atlantic-10 Conference finals. They are very athletic and they play exceptionally hard."
"Every year for any college team, the main goal is to make it to the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season. Any time you can accomplish that, you feel great to be able to go out and prove yourself against the top teams in the nation," said senior forward Kevin Johnson, the WAC Tournament MVP.
Last year, Tulsa defeated #5-seed Marquette in the first round and lost to #4-seed Kentucky in second round action. In 2000, Tulsa advanced the furthest in school history, going to the NCAA South Regional Finals, losing to North Carolina, 59-55.
In the last nine years, Tulsa has made it to the "Sweet Sixteen" three times (1994, 1995 and 2000), and advanced to the final eight once (2000). Tulsa has an 11-13 record in NCAA Tournament.
Every season that the Hurricane has won 20+ games, Tulsa has either played in the NCAA Tournament (14 times) or won the NIT Championship (2 times). The Hurricane won 20+ games and went to the tournament in the following years -- 1955, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003. The only other seasons in which Tulsa did not make the NCAA Tournament -- 1981 and 2001 -- the Hurricane won the NIT title.
Tulsa Head Coach John Phillips:
Senior Forward Kevin Johnson:
Senior Guard Dante Swanson:
Senior Forward Charlie Davis:The University of Tulsa
NCAA Tournament Quotes
March 16, 2003
"We are tremendously excited to be back in the NCAA Tournament. With every opponent, no matter who we drew, we knew there would be a seeding difference and we always go into the NCAA Tournament with tremendous respect for our opponent. I happened to see their game against Temple in the Atlantic-10 Conference finals. They are very athletic and they play exceptionally hard, so it should be an interesting matchup. We are going back to Spokane, Washington. We drove by the arena several times when we were there for the Gonzaga game, but of course we didn't play there. It looks like a really good place to hold an NCAA Tournament."
Player Quotes-
Senior Forward Marqus Ledoux:
"I'm just happy to be going to the tournament during my senior year. We had a lot of ups and downs this year, but we all stuck together as a team and we all knew we could make it to the tournament. Last night before the championship game, coach Phillips told us just to go out and be ourselves and that should be good enough. We'll go into the game with that mind set."
"Every year for any college team, the main goal is to make it to the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season. Any time you can accomplish that, you feel great to be able to go out and prove yourself against the top teams in the nation. We're happy for this opportunity. We'll have to go out and play like we have been playing in order to make the best of it."
"I feel pretty much like everyone else. I'm just happy to get back to the tournament in our senior year. I really didn't care too much how we got seeded or who we were playing. Again, I'm just happy to be in the tournament."
"At the beginning of the season we had a goal that we planned and it was to get back to the NCAA Tournament. We wanted to continue the Tulsa legacy of going to the tournament. I'm happy for everybody, the coaching staff, the seniors and the underclassmen so they can see what the NCAA Tournament is like and have the motivation to get back here next year."
