Column: Survive and advance

Virginia Commonwealth Coach Shaka Smart took a seat next to me on press row in Portland, Ore.

The Hoosiers were battling New Mexico State in the second half, and junior guard Jordan Hulls pulled up for a pure jumper, two of his game-high 22 points.

“Wow,” I muttered under my breath, but loud enough so the up-and-coming coach could hear.

“Yeah,” Smart responded. “He can really shoot the lights out.”

For the small amount of time left in the game, we exchanged small observations. And by we, I mean I contently listened and agreed when he spoke, as to not risk saying something stupid — an inevitability when I normally open my mouth.

As the game wound down, I finally attempted to contribute to the conversation.

“Yeah, I guess it all comes down to survive and advance,” I said.

Smart, who would ironically lose on that same court in two days, agreed.

“Exactly,” he said.

That’s what being in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament means. From now until the end of the season, throw out the regular season defeats that should have never happened ... ahem, looking at you, 70-69 loss at Nebraska. Throw out the conference awards that never came to fruition — Crean isn’t Big Ten Coach of the Year? Really?

In the season that really matters, the Hoosiers are 2-0.

Think I’m downplaying the regular season too much?

Ask the Michigan seniors how they feel right now. Sure, they won a share of the Big Ten regular season crown for the first time since 1986, a great accomplishment for a great team.

But you know what the Wolverines, including co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year Trey Burke, are doing right now? Watching the Big Dance from home because they lost in the first round to 13th-seeded Ohio.

Ah yes, the mighty Bobcats out of the MAC, who lost to teams such as Bowling Green (16-16), Toledo (19-17) and Eastern Michigan (14-18).

I can only speak for myself, but I’d take a Sweet 16 berth and run in the NCAA Tournament over a three-way tie for the Big Ten Championship any day.

“Did we have days where we wondered if we would get to this point?” IU Coach Tom Crean said Saturday following the Hoosiers’ victory against VCU. “I would look back at this and say that there were a lot of disappointments, but nobody in our program that’s with us to this point ever got discouraged. And there’s a huge difference between disappointment and discouragement.”

There’s just something about getting past the Big Dance’s opening weekend.

The first two rounds are hard and fast: arrive, practice, play, win, a day in between for preparation, play again and then go home with either a final period or comma in your season’s story.

After IU edged out a win Saturday, sophomore forward Will Sheehey, who hit the eventual game-winning shot with 12.7 seconds left, said advancing to the Sweet 16 is a big step toward bringing the Hoosiers back into the national picture.

"I know everyone watches March Madness and whatnot,” he said. “We might do it a lot for the fans, but really it’s for our guys in this program. We have seniors on the squad, Verdell (Jones III), who can’t play with us, but we play for those guys, and they’ve been through it all.”

After senior guard Jones went down with a career-ending ACL tear against Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, I was worried.

I was worried how this IU team would respond, whether they would fold minus a senior leader or rise to the occasion and overcome adversity.

Well, after a convincing 79-66 win against New Mexico State and a valiant comeback to advance past VCU, it’s clear the Hoosiers have answered the call.

“It’s been a constant grind for us ever since the end of last year,” said junior forward Christian Watford, who has averaged 15 points in the NCAA Tournament. “We’ve been working hard, and we did a great job with adversity, and it feels great to be in this position.”

It’s March Madness.

On Friday, Norfolk State beat popular Final Four pick Missouri, and, not to be outdone, Lehigh defeated Duke in another 15-2 upset.

I officially have no idea what the hell is going on in this tournament anymore.

It doesn’t matter what seed you are: Any given team on any given day can go down.

Next up for the Hoosiers is a rematch with Kentucky on Friday.

And who knows? Maybe the glass slipper goes well with candy stripes.

­— azaleon@indiana.edu