FORT WORTH, Texas (WREG) — Everything happened so fast, literally less than 30 mins… From the tigers walking off the court at Dickies Arena to hearing their name called on Selection Sunday.
The U of M is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.
But, there were somber faces at the Tigers watch party which was immediately after falling to Houston 71-53 in the AAC Tournament Championship.
“The pain is still sitting on me after this game we just played,” said Tigers veteran guard Alex Lomax. “Tried to give it my all on the court but it didn’t go how we wanted it to. So we’ve just got to let that out, and the next game coming up and just leave it all out on the court.”
“After a loss you can’t really be excited right now,” said Tigers guard Tyler Harris. “I feel like I didn’t give it my all tonight. I’m up here right now, thought I’m not too proud of it. Just got to get back to the drawing board and worry about the next game.”
“It feels bittersweet because we lost the championship game but we fought so hard to get back into the NCAA,” Tigers coach Penny Hardaway said. “I’m not going to let that go by without celebrating that. And we’re still alive. Hats off to Houston for coming out and doing a phenomenal job. That game is over with. Nothing we can do about it. Got to get ready to go to Portland.”
This is a year of firsts for Hardaway. The Tigers advances to their first conference tournament finals appearance under his tenure and now their first Big Dance.
He took a moment to soak it all in.
“When I took the job, it was it was not at the highest form,” said Hardaway. “You know, the fans weren’t coming to the games, and I felt like the opportunity came about that I could do something about that initially. And then secondly, I thought I could go out and recruit kids that were going to help us get back to the NCAA Tournament. That didn’t happen in the first three years. Obviously we missed an NCAA Tournament because of COVID and we did it this year. To do it with [Lomax], who I’ve been with for ten, going on 11 years, to be able to share this with him and Tyler, it’s a great feeling. I mean, I know where this came from. And then where it’s going and where it’s headed. And it’s headed in the right direction.”
If Memphis and Boise State sound familiar, that’s because the Tigers beat the Broncos on their way to the NIT championship last year.
Tip-off is set for 12:45 CST Thursday on TNT.
