With Mississippi River waters rising just outside the Pyramid–a result of regional downpours–workers Wednesday piled sandbags on an intervening embankment not 80 yards from courtside.
Jackson State might want to consider a similar strategy when it begins Southeast Regional play Thursday against No. 1 Kansas, or else pray for a lot more rain. If the river rises another few feet, Jayhawks guard Jacque Vaughn will be dribbling in puddles.
Otherwise, the 16th-seeded Tigers don’t stand much chance in their first NCAA tournament appearance. Jackson State (14-15) earned its trip by winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference tourney.
The Jayhawks are the tournament favorite. They bring a 32-1 record to this matchup, which begins at 11:25 a.m.
Afterward, eighth-seeded Purdue (17-11) will become the first Big Ten team to take the court in this year’s tournament when it plays ninth-seeded Rhode Island (20-9). The Rams beat the Boilermakers in a 1993 first-round game.
“I don’t think our kids respected them or understood how good they were,” Purdue coach Gene Keady said of that ’93 game. “Now that everybody is on TV, you can’t sneak up on anybody.”
Indeed, Rhode Island coach Al Skinner feels his team deserved a higher seed. The Rams are led by guard Tyson Wheeler’s 16.6 points and 5.5 assists a game.
No. 5 seed Maryland (21-10) and No. 12 College of Charleston (28-2) play at 6:50 p.m. Fourth-seeded Arizona (19-9) and 13th-seeded South Alabama (23-6) complete the day.
Despite the tough circumstances, Jackson State coach Andy Stoglin promises not to let Kansas pass without a fight. If nothing else, a brutal schedule prepared his team.
The Tigers suffered consecutive road losses at Arizona, UCLA, Arizona State and New Mexico. The optimistic Stoglin considers facing Kansas at a neutral site “a deal.”
“We’re not afraid, so we’ll lose or win this game on the court,” he insisted. “We’re not going to lose this psychologically.”
Speaking of psychology, Kansas coach Roy Williams might stick with a favorite superstition. He spit in the Mississippi before the 1982 Final Four in New Orleans, then won a national championship as an assistant at North Carolina.
“Somebody told me the name of this river out here,” he said Wednesday, pointing toward the flood, “so don’t be surprised.”
