SMU wins 'road game' to secure first NCAA Tournament bid since 1993 (Video)
It was a long, hard road back to the NCAA Tournament for SMU.
Long, as in 22 years. The Mustangs last made it to the Big Dance in 1993.
Hard, as in having to play a road game to win the American Athletic Conference tournament final on Sunday and secure the league's automatic bid.
SMU knocked off a desperate Connecticut team, 62-54, before a heavily pro-UConn crowd of 13,365 in Hartford.
A few minutes later, SMU learned it would be a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face UCLA at 2:10 p.m. Thursday in Louisville.
"And the greatest thing is we don't have to worry about anybody letting us know whether we're worthy of going or not," SMU coach Larry Brown said. "To come in here and win on the road against such a courageous team...I'm hopeful our guys are enjoying this moment because it doesn't just always happen."
A year ago, a couple of late-season losses put SMU's tournament fate in other hands. The Mustangs were left out of the 68-team field, to the surprise of many.
This year, SMU's tournament resume was such that it didn't need to win the AAC tournament to make the NCAA field. They could have taken it easy against the reigning national champs, UConn, whose only hope to make the Big Dance was to win the AAC tournament.
After taking a difficult road all season, including a beefed-up schedule, academic suspensions and the last-minute defection of a star recruit, SMU wasn't about to back its way into the NCAA bracket.
"This is big for all of us, not just the seniors but it's big for SMU as a school, as a basketball progam," senior guard Ryan Manuel said. "We don't want to leave it in anybody's hands and we don't want to depend on anybody. It's up to us and the coaches."
SMU (27-6) came out strong from the start on Sunday. The Mustangs went on a 12-2 run in the first half and led 23-10. UConn went a stretch of 10:21 without a bucket and trailed by 14 at half.
The SMU lead grew to 17 in the second half, although UConn, fueld by its home crowd and Rodney Purvis' 29 points, pulled to within five with 3:22 left.
SMU, paced by tournament Most Outstanding Player Markus Kennedy's 15 points, closed out the win without having to make or defend a last-second shot. Which was probably the only easy thing about SMU's long-awaited return to the NCAA Tournament.
"Coach mentioned that nobody else in the country probably have to play a road game for their conference championship," center Cannen Cunningham said. "But we only have neutral (site) games ahead of us."
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
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