SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Scott Gleeson breaks down the conference tournaments. USA TODAY Sports
A student manager will gather together all available footage next Sunday night and start cutting it up for consumption. And at some point the coaches and players at North Carolina, or Auburn, or Michigan State, or Xavier – or whichever high seed gets the draw – will watch the first half Lipscomb just played.
And someone will say: “Whoa.”
But that’s not Lipscomb’s problem right now. Lipscomb has history to enjoy. History achieved and history avoided.
More: Lipscomb in NCAA tournament for first time ever
The Bisons will play in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history after Sunday’s 108-96 win over Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun championship game in Fort Myers, Fla. Casey Alexander and his team celebrated with as much enthusiasm as you’d expect, with ESPN’s cameras rolling, after closing the deal at packed, disappointed Alico Arena.
Moments earlier, it looked like they might be leaving the scene of the biggest second-half collapse in NCAA Division I history. A 32-point lead got all the way down to five before the Bisons (23-9) made the plays down the stretch to fend off the desperate Eagles (23-11). The Division I record for largest second-half lead squandered, per ESPN, is 31 points.
The lead got that big because Lipscomb star junior guard Garrison Mathews had 26 of his 33 points in the first half, showing off the skillset and athleticism that should concern any coach of any team that will have to play the Bisons next. When the NCAA selection committee unveils its bracket on Sunday, Lipscomb probably will be a No. 15 or No. 16 seed, meaning it would play a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the opening game at one of eight sites around the country – one of them Bridgestone Arena.
It’s also possible Lipscomb will be in a “First Four” game on March 13 or 14 in Dayton, Ohio. Two of those four games will pit No. 16 seeds against each other, the winners moving on to play No. 1 seeds. A spot in Dayton would greatly increase the chances of Lipscomb following up its first NCAA tournament bid with its first NCAA tournament win.
Previously: Lipscomb basketball back at fork in road to make NCAA tournament, 12 years later
Based on Sunday’s first half, any game the Bisons play in the tournament could be interesting. This is a fun, explosive team that deserves to be embraced by Nashville in the next couple of weeks. And the first half wasn’t just Mathews; it was sophomore point guard Kenny Cooper using his quickness and vision to run the show and collect nine assists with no turnovers. It was overwhelming transition basketball and a 60-31 lead at the break.
The second half was FGCU’s two stars, senior Brandon Goodwin (34 points) and junior Zach Johnson (37), going nuts while the Eagles’ press forced turnovers and Cooper sat for a long stretch with four fouls. The lead kept shrinking, the noise kept growing, and the fact that Lipscomb has just one true point guard – scheduled starter Nathan Moran is redshirting after surgery on both hips – kept looming. Larger and larger.
But with the lead all the way down to 87-82, the other Lipscomb star, junior big man Rob Marberry, got a lefty hook to go down. Marberry (14 points) got inside for another one, then a bucket plus the foul on a perfect lob entry from Eli Pepper. Cooper (17 points) returned and reasserted himself. Sophomore guard Michael Buckland got a wild shot to go in off the glass. Mathews kicked his feet out on a 3 and fouled out Johnson.
And the gritty last five minutes may end up being more impressive to revisit than the pretty first 20 minutes. Before the game, ESPN’s cameras caught part of the speech of Alexander, who was there the only other time Lipscomb played for an NCAA bid – as a Belmont assistant to Rick Byrd, helping the Bruins pull out a 2006 overtime win over the Bisons in the A-Sun final.
“The stakes are different, it’s unmistakable, you ought to feel it and it’s an awesome thing,” Alexander told his players before they made history and avoided it all at once. “That’s why you’re here. That’s what you signed up for. This is exactly where we wanted to be. So take all that in and enjoy it like you’re supposed to.”
They did. And they haven’t seen anything yet.
Reach Joe Rexrode at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.