Monday, March 2, 1998
By SCOTT M. JOHNSON
Enterprise staff writer
On the first day of March, the city of Davis learned that the NCAA will bring a little bit of madness to town.
In a move that surprised most UC Davis players and coach Bob Williams, the NCAA announced that the UCD men's basketball team would host the NCAA West Regional, which begins Thursday at Hamilton Court.
And Williams' first reaction was to call for even more madness.
``I hope that this community and the Northern California basketball community turns out big time for this,'' he said. ``We need 5,000-plus in that arena. We need people with their faces painted. We need the Aggie Pack to have their shirts off and their chests painted. We need them absolutely going bonkers for 40 minutes.
``If they expect us to get out of the West without that, they're crazy. We're not going to get out of the West unless we have an absolutely crazy group of people supporting us.''
As the No. 1 seed, the Aggies (26-2) will face the winner of Thursday's game between Cal State Los Angeles and Grand Canyon on Friday at 8 p.m. In the other bracket, Montana State-Billings and Seattle Pacific will battle for the right to face No. 2 seed Cal State Bakersfield. The championship game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
``We're excited,'' UCD athletic director Greg Warzecka said. ``We're very excited to be able to host and feel that it's a reward for a great season. It's something that I hope that the entire city of Davis and the outlying areas will lend their support. We're looking for some big crowds, especially for Friday night's games, with Bakersfield and Davis playing.''
UCD players expected CSU Bakersfield to get the bid for the third consecutive season, especially after Williams prepared them with a speech Sunday morning.
``We were skeptical of hosting,'' senior guard Travon Dugar said. ``We knew we had a good chance because we beat (Bakersfield) and they lost to two teams that we beat. So we knew that there was a big possibility of hosting as well, but we didn't want to get over-excited.''
Senior J.P. Bergez almost made it sound like UCD had garnered a huge victory on the court.
``I'm actually really surprised we ended up pulling that one out,'' Bergez said. ``It just seems like Bakersfield always gets the breaks, but we would have had a little to gripe about having beat them head-to-head. The way we've been on a streak and the roll we've been on, I think that helped a bit.''
One person who was not overly shocked with the decision was CSUB athletic director Rudy Carvajal.
``I think when processes like these go on, the national committee looks at it very closely, and I know Davis will do a very good job with it,'' Carvajal said.
The Aggies, who watched an NCAA Division II selection show via satellite at The Graduate on Sunday, looked like a lock to host the tournament based on their No. 1 seed in the West. But that committee can only give a recommendation to the NCAA selection committee.
Williams and some players believed Bakersfield's No. 1 ranking in the Division II national poll and the returning D-II champions' national profile would cost the Aggies.
``You look on paper, and you think Bakersfield vs. Davis, probably nine times out of 10, you're going to see Bakersfield in this situation, not us,'' UCD's Justis Durkee said. ``Hearing that announcement, it's kind of a blessing for us.''
``It was well-deserved,'' said point guard Dante Ross, who hit a game-winning field goal with two seconds remaining against Sonoma State on Friday to clinch the No. 1 seed. ``I didn't know whether we would (be rewarded) or not, but I think we should have.''
While the UCD women's team hosted the regional last season, the men have never had it. The announcement was the latest of many unprecedented accomplishments for this year's Aggies, who have the highest national ranking and most wins in school history and are currently tied for the UCD record for longest winning streak (17 games).
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