Eastern Washington, KU’s first-round foe in NCAAs, won a big game in Indiana in 2014
Eastern Washington, which snared the Big Sky Conference’s automatic bid to the men’s NCAA Tournament by beating Montana State in Saturday’s finals of the league’s postseason tournament in Boise, Idaho, arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday in time to watch the Selection Sunday show on CBS.
The Eagles’ last trip to Indiana resulted in one of the biggest victories in school history — an 88-86 decision over the Indiana Hoosiers. That win, secured on Nov. 24, 2014, before 11,636 fans at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, snapped IU’s 43-game homecourt winning streak.
It marked EWU’s first win in 14 tries against a Big Ten team and was the first Big Sky victory on a Big Ten home court.
“It does bring back great memories. That was a really good time,” fourth-year Eastern Washington coach Shantay Legans, an assistant coach on that 2014-15 EWU team, said of returning to Indiana, site of Saturday’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Kansas.
“We won a big game and got to go to Steak and Shake afterwards. We had a lot of guys who hadn’t been there, and it was my first time. We played great that game and it provided some great memories. Again, they call them bluebloods and Indiana is one of them. We are hoping to get the same experience and have the same kind of fun with Kansas,” Legans added.
The Eagles (16-7), the No. 14 seed in the West Regional, will take on No. 3 seed KU (20-8) at 12:15 p.m. Saturday at Farmers Coliseum in Indy. The winner will meet either USC, Wichita State or Drake in Monday’s second round.
“I always say I wish I could see what my team looks like with some practice, getting up and down and being able to have a little bit of experience before we play the game. We’re going to get that opportunity, so it will be a lot of fun,” said Legans, who will have an entire week to prepare for blueblood KU.
“Being a 14-seed is great. We tried to get that 12-seed. That didn’t happen. You have to play a few more games against better opponents,” Legans added in an interview on the EWU website. “But 14 is good. It gives you a chance to win, not as a 16-seed where it’s really hard. It’s only happened one time. We’ve got to go out and make sure we do everything possible to try to get a win.”
Eastern Washington is 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament, losing to Georgetown, 84-74, in the 2015 tournament in Portland, Oregon and, 75-56, to Oklahoma in the 2004 tourney in Kansas City. This season, Eastern Washington lost nonconference games to Washington State (71-68 in Pullman, Washington); to Arizona (70-67, Dec. 5 in Tucson, Arizona) and to Oregon (69-52, Dec. 7 in Eugene, Oregon).
“We relish these games (against high-major schools), but they are hard to win,” Legans said Sunday.
EWU has played KU once.
The Jayhawks’ 2007-08 NCAA title team clobbered the Eagles, 85-47, on Dec. 5, 2007 in Allen Fieldhouse. That was two seasons before Legans joined coach Kirk Earlywine’s EWU coaching staff as an assistant. Legans, a former player at Cal and Fresno State, was an assistant coach at EWU eight seasons before securing the head coaching position.
“Bill Self was there (in 2007-08) then. He’s been there a long time,” Legans said. “I know Coach Self is going to do a great job getting ready for us, to prepare for us. I don’t know much about them. I know they are pretty big, have got size. They are a 3-seed so they had a good year.”
Eastern Washington is led by Big Sky Conference MVP Tanner Groves, a 6-9, 235-pound junior forward from Spokane, Washington, who averages 16.4 points and 8.1 boards a game. Kim Aiken, a 6-7 junior from Redlands, California, was chosen the league’s defensive player of the year. He averages 11.7 points and 8.5 boards with 31 steals and 25 blocked shots in 23 games.
Tyler Robertson, a 6-6 sophomore forward from Australia, was picked the league’s top reserve. He averages 11.3 points and 3.6 boards a game.
Eastern Washington finished the regular season 12-3 in the league. The Eagles have won 13 of their last 14 games. Eastern had won nine-straight games before falling to Idaho State, 68-63, on March 3.
“When I sit back and think about this, once our season is over, I am going to be really proud of what they (players) accomplished and how they handled this year,” Legans said. “It’s been quite amazing to tell you the truth. They handled it with dignity, handled it with great character, did everything we asked of them through the highs and lows. I’m really excited for them and the opportunity they get.”
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 7:07 AM with the headline "Eastern Washington, KU’s first-round foe in NCAAs, won a big game in Indiana in 2014."
