Buffalo, N.Y. ? Phil Martelli is finished stewing about the loss and answering questions from the doubters.

Finally, it’s time to play.

Saint Joseph’s faces Liberty in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament today, ready to erase the painful memories of its 20-point collapse against Xavier.

The top-seeded Hawks (27-1) will try to start another winning streak a week after their perfect record was ruined.

“I really think we have a lot to prove,” Martelli said before practice Wednesday. “But it has nothing to do with proving to somebody that has said something. It’s now about us proving to ourselves that we can and will play good basketball.”

The last six days have not been easy for the coach.

First came the stunning loss to Xavier in the Atlantic 10 Conference quarterfinals. Then Sunday, Martelli created a stir when, on national television, he angrily responded to CBS analyst Billy Packer, who said Saint Joseph’s wasn’t worthy of a No. 1 seed.

Martelli refused to mention Packer by name Wednesday, saying: “Does he have something to do about basketball?”

But the coach’s comments are still resonating with his players.

“For him to do that, it gave us confidence,” guard Delonte West said.

Guard Jameer Nelson added, “We’ve got his back just like he has our back.”

The Buffalo subregional also features the Phoenix Regional’s No. 2 seed Connecticut (27-6) playing Vermont (22-8), and seventh-seeded DePaul (21-9) playing Dayton (24-8).

Saint Joseph’s is in the East Rutherford Regional, along with eighth-seeded Texas Tech (22-10) and Charlotte (21-8), teams that also play each other in Buffalo today.

Then there’s Texas Tech coach Bob Knight, who returns to Buffalo for the first time since a loss to Pepperdine in the 2000 tournament marked his final game as the coach of Indiana. Knight was fired later that summer, and then hired by Tech.

“I don’t have any interest in being here previously,” Knight said when asked of his last trip to Buffalo.