Even though Milwaukee is 1,400 miles from Salt Lake City, this week's NCAA tournament opening-round game will be a homecoming for Utah's Nick Jacobson.
The 6-foot-4 senior expects many family members and friends from Fargo to make the drive for Friday's 11:30 a.m. game against Boston College.
"It's nice for me," Jacobson told the Salt Lake Tribune. "I'm sure I'll have a lot of support."
Jacobson, son of Tim and Kim Jacobson, helped lead Fargo Shanley to back-to-back state championships his sophomore and junior years. Jacobson played for his dad his senior year at Roseville, Minn., a Minneapolis suburb.
There could be another homecoming of sorts if Utah won its opening-round game and Northern Iowa upset Georgia Tech Friday -- creating a second-round matchup. Jacobson's cousin, Ben, is an assistant coach at Northern Iowa.
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Jacobson is a big reason Utah made it to the NCAA tournament. His 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining defeated Nevada-Las Vegas, 73-70, in last weekend's Mountain West Conference tournament championship game.
It's likely that Utah would have been bypassed for the Big Dance had it not secured the league's automatic berth.
Utah (24-8) is making its ninth NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years, although the No. 11 seed was lower than the Utes expected.
"Honestly, it's a little lower than I thought it would be," said Jacobson, who was named the Mountain West tournament most valuable player, averaging 21.7 points in three games.
"But I'm not complaining, not at all. I'm excited to be in."
Nothing new for Giacoletti
Playing a powerhouse like Oklahoma State is not new territory for Ray Giacoletti's Eastern Washington team.
In his fourth year at Eastern Washington, the former North Dakota State University head coach has had his teams play against such heavyweights as Oklahoma, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana.
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This year's team went winless against Oklahoma, Iowa and NCAA-tournament teams Washington, Gonzaga and Illinois-Chicago.
"It's just the way it worked out," Giacoletti said of the rugged nonconference schedule. "We played against some physical, tough teams. If we can compete against those types of teams, it certainly helps us once we get to conference play."
And maybe for Friday's opening-round game against No. 2-seeded Oklahoma State.
"They are extremely athletic," Giacoletti said of the Cowboys. "We've taped their two games this weekend, and they are very versatile and athletic. We need to make sure we're set and ready to go."
Giacoletti, who has a 69-49 record in four seasons at Eastern Washington, coached at NDSU from 1997 to 2000, going 48-33 in those three seasons.
