Fans and cheerleaders gathered on the steps outside of Mary Graydon Center March 18, offering support to the AU men’s basketball team as they began their journey to Milwaukee, Wis. for the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Despite the cheer and festive nature of the event, the task of the No. 15 seeded Eagles taking on the the No. 2 seed Badgers will be a difficult one.
“We’ve been playing with that kind of mentality all year,” senior center Tony Wroblicky said about the team taking on an underdog mentality. “So going into this game is nothing new to us.”
As the underdog as a 15 seed, the situations the Eagles now find themselves in is no different than their start of the season: predicted to finish ninth in the conference and no player selected to the All-Patriot League team.
Wroblicky was just one part of the Eagles’ unexpected success as the senior center became a two-way player for the Eagles and one of their most important contributors in the matchup against University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Already a steady defensive contributor over his previous three years at AU, Wroblicky continued to play strong defense in 2013, leading the Eagles to the No.1 scoring defense in the Patriot League and earning Patriot League Defensive Play of the year honor.
Offensively, Wroblicky put up a career best 12.2 points per game, almost five points better than his previous high as a junior. Part of his offensive success came from his unique one-handed shooting style, which upped his free throw percentage from 52 percent a year ago to 72 percent a year later.
“Making it finally my senior year has been has been very special,” Wroblicky said of the tournament. “It’s kind of going out on top, in a way.”
The challenge for Wroblicky, the rest of the Eagles roster and first-year head coach Mike Brennan involves upsetting the Badgers, a team which finished 12th in the latest AP Top 25.
“We knew we were going to play a good team, one of the best teams in the country,” Brennan said about the matchup. “It’s going to be a grind on both ends of the floor.”
Statistics regarding AU’s chances are not in the Eagles favor. Statistician Nate Silver estimates AU has a 7 percent chance advancing past the Badgers. The ESPN Tournament Challenge said only 2.5 percent of the public is picking the Eagles to beat Wisconsin while ESPN’s computer says the Eagles’ chances of winning stand around 13 percent, as of Tuesday afternoon.
Even with the bad numbers, the Eagles do have a few stats in their favor. Even though No. 2 seed has a record of 109-7 against 15-seeds, three of the seven losses a No. 2 team has suffered to 15-seed have come in the last two tournaments. One of those 15-seeds to upset a two-seed was AU’s Patriot League rival Lehigh, when the Mountain Hawks defeated Duke in 2012.
Despite less than favorable odds in their first round matchup, the entire Eagle staff are appreciative the opportunity that has been presented.
“Everything we do is as a group accomplishment,” Brennan said. “I think ‘Pee Wee’ (guard Darius Gardner) said 10 years from now everyone will say AU won this championship, and he’s right.”
