Wins from No. 14 seed are an oddity

BOISE — If beating the University of Arizona already wasn't enough of a long shot for Utah State, doing it as a No. 14 seed made it much more difficult.

Entering Friday's first round of the NCAA tournament, a No. 14 seed hadn't won a first-round game since Weber State beat North Carolina, 76-74, in 1999.

Since that time, the No. 14 seed lost 20 straight games.

With Utah State's 66-53 loss to Arizona, the streak hit 21. Add in Winthrop's 74-64 loss to Gonzaga on Thursday and the number jumps to 22.

Since the brackets expanded to 64 teams in 1985, all four of the No. 14 seeds have been eliminated in the first round nine times. In 1995 and 1997, two No. 14 teams won first-round games, and in 1986 three teams won with Cleveland State advancing to the Sweet 16 before losing to Navy, 71-70. In 1997, Chattanooga advanced to the regional semifinals before losing to Providence, 71-65.

In all, the No. 14 seed is 13-69 in the first round, 2-11 in the second round and 0-2 in the regional semifinals.

Arizona lost to a No. 14 seed in 1992, to East Tennessee State, 87-80.

NCAA EXPERIENCE: Spencer Nelson, Nate Harris, Calvin Brown, John Neil and Chris Huber are the only Aggies who had been to an NCAA tournament game. Nelson, Harris, Brown and Neil (a redshirt) were on the team when Utah State played Kansas in 2003, while Huber was a redshirt freshman for the University of Utah in 2001-02 when the Utes lost to eventual national runner-up Indiana, 75-56.

BOWING OUT: In 24 tournament appearances, the Wildcats have bowed out in the first round 10 times. Under head coach Lute Olson, the Wildcats have lost in the first round eight times in 21 years.

NO FAST BREAK: Utah State and Arizona are teams known to attack after missed shots, but neither the Aggies or Wildcats recorded any fast-break points.

ENDING A STREAK: The Wildcats picked up their first-ever win over Utah State. The Aggies were 3-0, but the two teams hadn't played since 1963.

WIN NO. 100: With their win over Utah State, Arizona seniors Channing Frye and Salim Stoudamire became the 16th consecutive senior class to win 100 games.

MIDWAY POINT: The Wildcats, who trailed at the half 29-26, were 7-4 when trailing at the half, while Utah State was 22-5 when leading at the half.

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