GUARD OPTIMISM: Iona’s Sean Armand said at yesterday’s practice of beating Ohio State in Friday’s 2-vs.-15 NCAA Tournament opener: “To me, it’s not an upset.” (Anthony J. Causi)
David isn’t bringing a slingshot to dethrone Goliath.
In the case of Iona — the MAAC champion that got over its run of late-game collapses to win the conference tournament and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament — the 15th-seeded Gaels are coming fully loaded with artillery to their second-round West Region matchup with mighty second seed Ohio State of the Big Ten on Friday.
And their weapon of choice is confidence — overflowing, unbridled confidence.
“To me, it’s not an upset, it’s a game we should win, it’s a game we’re capable of winning,” shooting guard Sean Armand of Brooklyn told The Post after practice yesterday at the Hynes Athletic Center. “To the rest of the world, it’s going to be an upset, a 15 beating a 2, but if we win this game, we’re doing what we’re supposed to do.”
Asked to predict the outcome, Armand said, “I’m planning to play on Sunday. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Senior guard Lamont “Momo” Jones smiled when relayed Armand’s bold prediction, and echoed his cocky teammate’s belief Iona “is supposed to win.”
“I don’t buy the mid-major thing,” said Jones, a Harlem native and the nation’s third-leading scorer at 23 points per game. “We played against great teams, we played against big conferences and we’ve won, so it’s no different from going to the NCAA Tournament and winning. Whether or not people see it as a upset or not, when I get back in that hotel, when we happen to win a game, it’s going to be a regular game. It’s not going to be any more celebrating than another game.
“I feel like we’re supposed to win, and if we win, it’s not going to be like, ‘Oh, we beat Ohio State.’ It’s, ‘OK, on to the next round and let’s get this,’ ” he went on. “I honestly believe like we belong. I honestly feel like we can win. We’re going to play the best game we can possibly play.”
Forward Taaj Ridley was hardly surprised by the big talk from Armand and Jones. Both like to express themselves and have yet to let down their teammates.
“They’re big talkers, but they can back it up,” Ridley said. “I like the confidence. Confidence is key, especially in this part of the season. As I was told by my coaches, if you can do it and you think you can do it, it can happen.”
The Gaels began the year thumping their chest, thinking they were the MAAC’s elite team before six losses in seven games by a combined 11 points made them refocus and look in the mirror, Jones said. So many of the program’s new players figured an NCAA berth would come because of the school’s recent success under coach Tim Cluess. It wasn’t until everyone got on the same page that they turned a corner.
“We came in here every day after those losses and we worked,” Jones said. “We didn’t point the finger at Coach, we didn’t point the finger at each other. We didn’t argue, we didn’t fight, we didn’t bicker. We came in here and worked like we were on a winning streak. It was amazing. A new leaf turned.”
The result was two wins to end the regular season followed by three in the MAAC Tournament — and now this opportunity to shock the world.
Of course, to hear the Gaels tell it, they will be the only ones not surprised by the final result on Friday.