Seattle U, the Unlikely Aggressors, Upset Fresno State Last Night

I have two new rules in the wake of Seattle U's high-five-inducing upset win over Fresno State at KeyArena last night.

1) Never Doubt Elgin Baylor
Before the game, NBA Hall-of-Famer and Seattle Uer Baylor, standing next to his stunning wife on the court now named for him, addressed the crowd. He urged the fans to cheer boisterously for the Redhawks. Baylor said that players perform better when they hear the fans' support.

Baylor was right, because I'm at a loss to explain how a short SU backcourt rotation could've kept up a full-court trap for the final eight minutes of the game, hassling Fresno State into just enough turnovers to give the Redhawks a chance for the winning basket.

2) Never Doubt Cameron Dollar
Fresno State is stronger, faster, taller, and more athletic than Seattle U. So you'd think the last thing you'd do is try to run with them. Last year's Seattle U team, under departed coach Joe Callero, would've tried to slow down the game with deliberate possessions, and attempted to confuse Fresno State with trick defenses.

But under new coach Dollar, a former assistant to UW's Lorenzo Romar, the Redhawks were the aggressors. On SU's second possession of the game, Dollar was barking at his point guard to bring the ball up faster. The Redhawks trapped early and often, and played aggressive man-to-man defense against FSU's NBA-quality athletes.

And when Dollar's players got in foul trouble, got tired, and squandered a double-digit lead? Dollar responded by being more aggressive.

For the final 8:30 of the game, Dollar had the Redhawks run a trapping full-court press. And, to me, the outcome seemed preordained. The short-handed Redhawks would tire, Fresno State would score easy buckets in bunches, foul out SU's best players, and coast to a double-digit win.

Instead, the press paid off right away. Mike Boxley and Cervante Burrell trapped a FSU dribbler and caused a steal that led to an Aaron Broussard three-point play. Then, off a bad pass by the Bulldogs, Boxley hit a three-pointer.

The Redhawks stayed within striking distance from that point on, helped by some extremely generous officiating. And with 1:21 left, the Redhawks struck.

Boxley fired a three-point shot that scooped the rim, bounced off the backboard, and slid down off the lip of the front rim into the basket. That put SU down one. They took the lead back less than a minute later, when an Aaron Broussard steal led to a Garrett Lever lay-in. Fresno State scored, putting SU down one.

On the next possession, Chris Gweth drove the lane and found Burrell on the baseline. Burrell slid under the basket, getting just far enough away from Fresno State's shotblockers to convert the hoop. From his courtside seat, Elgin Baylor applauded the play. In my section, strangers exchanged high-fives.

Fresno State had one final chance, but they never got a shot up. Burrell and Lever stripped a Fresno State guard, and Burrell tossed the ball in the air as we all resumed high-fiving.

The crowd for SU's home opener wasn't a big one--eyeballing it, I'd say it was about half the size of your average Storm crowd. But it was influential. Two of the NBA's 50 greatest players with Baylor sitting courtside for his first SU game since leaving for the pros in 1958, and Lenny Wilkens doing color for FSN. A passel of Seattle U legends, including former NBAers Tom Workman and Jawann Oldham, and the famed O'Brien twins . And three-fifths of the University of Washington starting lineup, as Venoy Overton, Isaiah Thomas, and Matthew Bryan-Amaning all plopped into the row in front of me just after tip-off.

The Redhawks play all their home games at KeyArena this year. Some fantastic seats are available, I walked up and got a seat in the fifth row at center court. Their next home game is Sunday vs. Weber St., the favorites to win the Big Sky conference. After that you'll have to wait until 12/15. Here's the full schedule.