COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT UPDATE : MIDWEST : Southwest Texas Is Taking It Easy

Southwest Texas State (25-6) is seeded 15th, has never played in the NCAA tournament and today faces second-seeded Massachusetts (27-6) in the first round at Wichita, Kan.

So how did the Bobcats prepare?

By cutting back on practice, reflecting on the past and letting the future take care of itself.

“I just want us to play as well as we can play,” Coach Jim Wooldridge said. “Win or lose, if we do that, I think our players and myself will feel good. If we don’t win, I want us to feel good about who we are. That’s as important to me as anything.”

But there’s nothing laid-back about St. Louis, which last played in the NCAA tournament in 1957. The seventh-seeded Billikens (23-5) play 10th-seeded Maryland (16-11) today.

“Now that we’ve finally got a chance to play in the tournament, we’re not just happy to be in it. We’ve come here to win some games,” said second-year Coach Charlie Spoonhour, a frequent NCAA visitor with Southwest Missouri State. “We’re going to do what it takes to win.”