By SARA KIERNAN
NEW YORK — Stephen Swenson and his Stetson teammates won the ASUN Tournament on March 10, and then had a week to enjoy the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament bid before learning their opponent on Selection Sunday.
When Sunday came around, the Hatters were given a No. 16 seed and the reward of playing defending NCAA champion and overall No. 1 seed UConn here at Barclays Center on Friday (2:45 p.m.).
“We just can’t wait to play tomorrow and prove everybody wrong,” Swenson (22-12), averaging 13.8 points, 5.9 assists and 4.7 rebounds, said Thursday.
Two No. 16 seeds have toppled No. 1s in recent years, with UMBC the first to do it against Virginia in 2018 and FDU knocking off Purdue last year.
The way Stetson sees it, there’s more pressure on the high-powered Huskies (31-3).
“There’s really not a lot of pressure on us as much as them,” senior guard Alec Ogelsby said. “So it’s going to be a great opportunity, and just to be out there with our brothers and be able to just play hard, give it our all tomorrow will be a great opportunity.”
Head coach Donnie Jones said his players don’t like to lose, pointing to a loss to current No. 1 Houston back in November.
“One thing that stood out to me was our guys were really upset we lost and that showed to me that they had an expectation that, one, we could create better,” he said.
“You can’t create that environment. Obviously Houston is athletic, well-coached, tough, they have all the weapons just like UConn does. You can’t create that scenario or even watch an old film and understand it.”
This will to win continued throughout the season as they went 22-12, never losing more than two games in a row.
Jones said that this game was going to be different from any other game they have played.
“It’s not the NBA where you have to win four games in seven,” he said. “You have to win for 40 minutes.”
UConn coach Dan Hurley knows about the 16-1 upsets in recent years but likes his team’s mentality coming into the game.
“What keeps us bulletproof though we’re No. 1 in the country in offensive efficiency, Top-10 in defense, we generally rebound the ball as good as anyone in the country,” Hurley said. “We play harder than our opponent, and we are elite with our preparation and we don’t care who the hero is on a given night. That’s a formula that will keep you bulletproof in a lot of games and make it really hard for somebody to get you.
“We stick to that script. We can come in here with confidence but we respect Stetson. We respect everyone that we play because you know, we know what this tournament is all about.”
Photo: via Stetson Athletics
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