On Thursday, UB's men's basketball team makes its second straight appearance in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, playing Miami in Providence.
The team went into the tournament after Blake Hamilton sank a three-pointer in the closing seconds to win the MAC championship.
" I feel like our team is capable of playing high major teams for 40 minutes. If we play 40 minutes strong defensively and then our offense comes like they say in the tournament, then we'll be fine," Hamilton later said.
Last year, the team went to the NCAA tournament and then lost its head coach, Bobby Hurley, and some of its players. It then promoted assistant coach Nate Oats to the top job.
On Sunday, there was a sense of vindication. Oats says it's a team and staff that gets the job done, not just a head coach.
"It proves that the players we brought in were pretty high level players and I think we've proven as a staff that we know what we're doing. I think I brought in a pretty experienced staff," Oats said.
On Monday night, the UB women's team will find out who it will play. They secured an invite to the NCAA women's tournament by winning the Mid-American Conference tournament over the weekend.
