Holy Cross won’t be intimidated

Crusaders learned from tournament last year

Respect everybody. Fear no one.

That’s not only Kansas University’s men’s basketball battle cry, but one shared by Holy Cross, the Jayhawks’ first-round NCAA Midwest Regional opponent.

The unheralded Crusaders of the Patriot League played powerful Kentucky to a near standoff in last year’s NCAAs, falling by just four points in a first-round clash in Uniondale, N.Y.

“We ignored the Kentucky legend last year and prepared like it was a regular game,” Holy Cross senior Ryan Serravalle told the Worcester, Mass., newspaper. “You have to ignore the TV, the crowd, the hype and cherish the moment. You have to make the most of it, just play basketball and focus on what the goal is. We will play our hearts out on Thursday.”

Tipoff is 6:50 p.m., at Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

“Our mindset will be steady and we’ll work hard. We won’t allow anything less than that,” said the 6-foot Serravalle, who averages 12.3 points a game.

The Crusaders, who earned a No. 15 seed last year, realize this year’s task as a 16 seed might be even tougher than last year’s Kentucky contest.

“They dunk like crazy and shoot threes all over the place on ESPN,” said Tim Szatko, a 6-8 junior forward who averages 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds a game. “It will be a tough game. Last year against Kentucky we played as hard as we could. We played Holy Cross basketball and we competed hard. Kansas is one of the top teams in the nation. We will prepare hard and compete to the best of our ability.”

Thursday’s winner meets the Western Kentucky-Stanford winner at 7:04 p.m. Saturday.

“We know it will be a daunting task,” Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard said. “We’re playing one of the four best teams in the country and up until Sunday, probably the best team. We have to prepare ourselves to compete. You want to go into the game believing that you can compete and that’s the mindset we are going to have.

“The biggest thing when you are a huge underdog is to play with no consequences because if you go in and play tentative against a team as explosive as Kansas, it’s lights out.”

Willard, who was 81-42 in four seasons at Western Kentucky and 63-82 in five years at Pittsburgh, has led Holy Cross to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 1947 and ’48.

No rookie coach, Willard knows that KU coach Roy Williams will have his team motivated after losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 finals on Sunday.

“I would have rather they won,” Willard said. “Roy will have the kids focused. They’ll be on a mission now. We’ll just have to deal with it.”

No matter the opponent, Holy Cross is happy to be in the big dance.

“When you see your name up on the screen it’s the culmination of the season,” Willard said. “Wherever you go, it’s exciting.”