Garnett keeping it simple as Pioneers gear for nationals

National Tournament Information  Bracket
Things tend to get a bit complicated when post-season play arrives. After all, it isn't called March madness for nothing!

Wayland Baptist men's basketball coach Matt Garnet, however, is trying to simplify things as he takes the Pioneers back to Kansas City and the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championships for the second straight season.

"We're focused on a real simple approach: force tough shots, rebound the first miss, and get a great shot on the other end," Garnett said.

It's the same philosophy the coach has preached to this team most of the season, and one the Pioneers truly took to heart while winning their first-ever Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship.

"We went into the conference tournament the same way," he said. "We wanted to play every possession and see what it got us. We're not going to change our approach."

The 11^th-ranked Pioneers (27-5) open play at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City against No. 22 Evangel, Mo. (20-12) at 3 p.m. Wednesday. All of the men's tournament will be video-streamed live on www.NAIANetwork.com, and all Wayland games can be heard on KKYN (106.9-FM) as well as at http://mixlr.com/plainview-radio-sports-channel-1/. Danny Andrews will provide play-by-play.

The Crusaders are the Heart of America Athletic Conference regular-season champions and, like Wayland, will be looking to make it past the first round after falling in their national tournament opener a year ago.

"They're a very smart team that doesn't make many mistakes," Garnett said. "When you play a team that doesn't make many mistakes, you not only have to play well, but also do things right. They're not a team that's going to give you a lot of opportunities through their mistakes, so our focus is to really be efficient on both the offensive and defensive ends and try to prepare to play our best basketball Wednesday afternoon, because it's going to take that."

Garnett said Evangel is "probably underrated," and the favored Pioneers won't be taking anything for granted.

"In tournament play, it always seems like the first game is such a battle, regardless of seeding," he said. "Our focus is to literally go up there and be really ready to play and try to get that first-round game. We won't look past the first-round game in any form or fashion, number one, because Evangel is really good, and two, you have to focus on every possession. You can't do anything but play each possession one at a time, or you're going to be home."

The Crusaders, who are coached by 33-year veteran Steve Jenkins, are led by Korry Tillery, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound senior forward who averages 20.3 points and almost 11 rebounds a game. Tillery is fifth in the NAIA in rebounds and ninth in scoring.

"He's a very good forward," Garnett assured.

Three other Crusaders average between close to 10 and 12 points a game.

"They have a team full of guys who shoot the ball well, and they are very sound defensively," Garnett said. "They play in a very good league, and they won it for a reason."

Wayland, winners of 11 of its last 12 games, enters the national tournament ranked in the top 5 in the NAIA in four key statistics. The Pioneers are third in rebounding (43 per game) and fifth in scoring (86 ppg), assists (16.7) and field goal percentage (50.1%).

Senior Royal Crouch, the SAC Tournament MVP and all-conference first-team pick, leads the team in scoring (17.7) and is second in rebounds (6.1). Junior point guard Robert Waters, who earned All-SAC second-team honors, averages 13.5 points and a team-best 4.5 assists, while senior Ta'Quan McDew averages 12.5 points. Junior post Bunja Yaboe gets 10.4 points and a team-leading 7.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, which ranks ninth in the nation. Yaboe was named SAC Defensive Player of the Year and third-team all-conference.

This marks the first time in a decade that Wayland is making back-to-back appearances in Kansas City, and the Pioneers will be looking to make it past the second round for the first time since finishing as national runners-up in 1985.

The winner between Wayland and Evangel advances to the second round at 9 a.m. Friday against either sixth-seeded Dalton St., Ga. (27-4) or Wiley, Texas (21-11), which play at 9 a.m. Wednesday. If WBU continues to win, the Pioneers would play at 10:30 a.m. Saturday (possibly against the highest seed in its quadrant, #3 Cal St. San Marcos, 28-3) and 6 p.m. Monday, with the championship set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 24.

Garnett, of course, isn't looking past Evangel as he stresses taking the tournament possession-by- possession and getting better each day.

"There are lots of different ways you have to do that, and it's very tough to do, but if we're going to have success in this tournament and have success against Evangel, we're going to have to figure out how to get that done," he said.

The coach said his team continues to work hard, which is inspiring.

"We've had a really good week of practice; the guys are working extremely hard. I'm seeing a very focused group that is still very excited to be preparing.

"Our goal is to get better. You have to do that in order to be able to play with Evangel," he added. "This is a really quality tournament. I don't know if there's an easy draw."

"Our goal as a team is to win one more game, play one more day. We know you have to prepare very well in order to have the chance to do that. We want to take it one game at a time and fight to survive one more day together."