The bluebloods of Kansas found out the Eagles were a handful.
 
The 14th-seeded Eastern Washington University Eagles led more than they trailed, but lost to third-seeded Kansas 93-84 in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind, Saturday (March 20) at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
 
Junior Tanner Groves poured in a career-high 35 points for Eastern, while his younger brother Jacob Groves had career highs with 23 points and nine rebounds. Eastern led by 10 twice in the second half, but a game-deciding 25-7 stretch turned a six-point advantage into a 12-point deficit with five minutes to play.
 
The Eagles led for 20:47 compared to 18:07 for the Jayhawks, who were ranked 12th nationally in the Associated Press top 25 poll entering the game. Eastern's Covid-19 impacted season ended with a 16-8 record overall.
 
"I don't believe in moral victories, but today was one of those times where I told the team this was a moral victory for them," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "They played amazing, great and hard, and played toe-to-toe with one of the best programs in the county. America was able to see that, and we saw our team go out and compete against some of the best players in the country. You have to be proud of our guys, and I was today."
 
The Groves Bros combined for 58 points on 19-of-29 shooting a week after both were named to the All-Tournament team at the Big Sky Conference Tournament. They led EWU to the title and into EWU's third NCAA Tournament, but EWU's quest for the first victory by a No. 14 seed since 2016 and an attempt to end a 13-game losing streak in the tourney by the Big Sky came up short.
 
Eastern out-shot Kansas 50 percent to 48 percent, and equaled the Jayhawks on the boards 33-33. The difference in the game was offensive rebounds (10 for Kansas, five for Eastern) and turnovers (13 for Eastern, six for Kansas). The result were advantages for KU of 13-2 in second-chance points and 12-7 in points off turnovers.
 
"I wish we could have pulled this one out – we had opportunities," said Legans. "We missed on some things, and Kansas made plays when we didn't. That part hurts, but I couldn't be more proud of our university and this team. They played amazing."
 
Kansas will play the winner of the No. 6 USC versus No. 11 Drake game which followed EWU's contest. USC is now 22-7 and Drake is 26-4. The second-round game will be played on Monday, March 22 at a time and venue to be announced. The game will be broadcast by either CBS, TBS, TNT or Tru TV,
 
Eastern was making its third NCAA Tournament appearance, and is now 0-3 in opening round games. The first appearance came under head coach Ray Giacoletti on March 19, 2004, when the Eagles fell to No. 3-ranked and No. 2-seeded Oklahoma State 75-56 in Kansas City, Mo. Eastern returned 14 years later under head coach Jim Hayford, and fell to  #22/#4 Georgetown 84-74 in Portland, Ore., on March 19, 2015.
 
The Eagles arrived in Indianapolis on March 14 fresh off of winning the title at the Big Sky Conference Championship, then watched the selection show as a team. Eastern then spent a day undergoing two rounds of Covid-19 testing and quarantining in their hotel. Finally, EWU was able to begin a week of practices at the Indiana Convention Center on Monday, March 15, in preparation of their match-up with one of college basketball's most successful programs.
 
 
Records
 
* Eastern is now 16-8 overall after finishing 12-3 in the league, and the Eagles finished the season winning 13 of their last 15 games. Eastern had won nine-straight games before falling to Idaho State 68-63 on March 3.
 
* Kansas is now 21-8 and had entered the game ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll and was ranked 13th in the coaches poll. Legendary Jayhawk Bill Self is now 513-117 in his 18th season as KU head coach. Kansas was 12-3 in the Big 12 Conference to finish second behind Baylor.
 
* Through Eastern's game and with one more to play Saturday night, #14 seeds are now 17-106 in the NCAA Tournament 1st round (1985+), and are 21-122 versus #3 seeds. The last win for a #14 seed came in 2016 when Stephen F. Austin (SFA) won 70-56 over West Virginia. The Big Sky Conference has had two No. 14 seeds win – in 1999, Weber State 76-74 over North Carolina and in 1995, Weber State 79-72 over Michigan State 72.
 
* Current Members of the Big Sky Conference are now a collective 17-59 in the tournament, and the last Big Sky Conference win as on March 16, 2006, when #12 Montana won 87-79 over #5 Nevada (now 14 losses in row). The record for schools that were in the Big Sky at the time they played in the NCAA Tournament is 11-55. This is the ninth time the Big Sky has been a #14 seed, and there have been eight opening-round wins in league history dating back to 1969.
 
 
Top EWU Performers
 
Big Sky Conference MVP Tanner Groves made 11-of-18 shots from the floor, including 5-of-11 3-point attempts. He also sank 8-of-9 free throws and had five rebounds and three blocked shots. He finished his junior season with nine double-double to give him 11 in his career.
Sophomore Jacob Groves, the younger brother of junior Tanner Groves, had a career-high 23 points and equaled his high with nine rebounds. He had 16 of his points in the first half, and finished the game 8-of-11 from the field overall and 4-of-5 from 3-point range. He also had nine rebounds, a blocked shot, a steal and an assist. His previous career high was 21 versus Montana in the Big Sky Conference Tournament semifinals. Both Groves brothers are graduates of Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash.
First team All-Big Sky selection and Defensive Player of the Year Kim Aiken Jr. scored just two points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field, but he had six rebounds, two assists and a steal. The junior had three double-doubles this season, 20 in his career and 26 career double-figure rebounding performances.
Sophomore Michael Meadows, scored 12 points and had a career-high eight assists. He made 4-of-9 field goals and all four of his free throws. He scored in double figures in 12 of the last 13 games, and he eclipsed his previous high of five assists set two times previously.
Sophomore Tyler Robertson, selected as the league's Top Reserve, chipped in seven points, four rebounds and three assists.
Senior Jacob Davison, the preseason Big Sky MVP, hit a 3-pointer early in the game and finished with three points, three rebounds and two assists. Eastern's other senior, Jack Perry, had a pair of assists.
 
 
Game Details & Turning Point
 
With great enthusiasm and energy, Eastern jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead as they hit its first four shots and Kansas missed its first four. Tanner Groves scored the first basket, then Jacob Groves hit three-straight buckets to put EWU by nine just 1:41 into the game.
 
But Kansas would gradually come back and take its first lead at 16-15 with 14:08 left, and built it to 23-17. Eastern trailed 28-22 when it made its big move.
 
Eastern went on a 10-0 run, with 3-pointers provided by both Groves brothers and Meadows providing the other four points. Soon after that, back-to-back treys by the brothers put EWU up 41-33 with 2:40 to play. Eastern led by as many as nine on a 3-pointer by Tyler Robertson, and led 46-38 at intermission
 
Both Groves brothers had 16 points in the first half, as EWU out-shot Kansas 55 percent to 41 percent.
 
Eastern continued to put the pressure on the Jayhawks in the second half, going up by 10 at the 19:00 mark on a basket by Meadows and with 17:58 left by Tanner Groves.
 
The Eagles led 61-55 when KU went on an 11-2 run, with two baskets by Tanner Groves all EWU could muster in that stretch. The Jayhawks were 7-of-9 in that stretch while the Eagles could make just 2-of-7 as Kansas took a 66-63 lead with 7:58 left.
 
Eastern tied it at 66 on a 3-pointer by Tanner Groves, but a 7-0 run soon after that gave the Jayhawks an 80-68 advantage with 4:59 to play. Kansas led by no less than seven the rest of the way.
 
 
Series Notes
 
* Eastern has played Kansas once before, an 85-47 Jayhawk victory on Dec. 5, 2007. Kirk Earlywine – who will be in attendance for the rematch -- was EWU's head coach then, two seasons before Legans became one of his assistants. Kansas finished 37-3 in the 2007-08 season and went on to win the NCAA Tournament championship. The Eagles are 0-9 versus the Big 12 Conference.
 
 
More Game Notes
 
* The NCAA announced in early January the entire 2021 men's basketball championship will be played in Indiana, with the majority of the tournament's 67 games taking place in Indianapolis. The Final Four is scheduled for Saturday, April 3 and Monday, April 5, with the championship game at 6 p.m. on CBS.  The NCAA also announced exact preliminary-round dates in January, with games played on two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena in West Lafayette and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Only one game at a time will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium. Teams are practicing at the Indiana Convention Center with multiple courts set up inside the venue. All teams will be housed on dedicated hotel floors, with physically-distanced meeting and dining rooms, as well as secure transportation to and from competition venues.
 
* The last venture to Indiana for EWU was a triumphant one. A heart-stopping 88-86 victory at Big Ten Conference member Indiana on Nov. 24, 2014, will go down as one of the greatest victories in school history after the Eagles snapped the nation's third-longest non-conference home court winning streak at 43 in front of 11,636 Hoosier fans at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. It was the first-ever win for the Eagles in 14 tries against a Big Ten Conference opponent and was the first Big Sky win on a Big Ten home court. Legans was an assistant coach on that squad.
 
* The Eagles rolled through the Big Sky Conference Tournament with a trio of victories, leading for a total of 108:19 out of 120 minutes (trailed for 8:25 and tied for 3:16). EWU led by as many as 12, 38 and 20 in the three wins, respectively.
 
* Eastern finished as the Big Sky runner-up after leading the league from Feb. 6 to March 3, and won 10 of its last 11 Big Sky games to finish 12-3 and tied with Weber State. But Southern Utah finished perfect at home and won their last nine games to snag the league title away, while the Wildcats won their last seven.
 
* In the final Big Sky Conference standings based on winning percentage, Southern Utah was first (12-2, .857), followed by EWU and Weber State (12-3 .800). They were followed by Idaho State and Montana State (both 8-6 .571), Montana (7-9 .438), Portland State and Northern Colorado (both 6-8 .429), Sacramento State (5-9 .357), Northern Arizona (4-10 .286), and Idaho (1-17 .056).
 
* The Eagles were playing in their third-straight league championship game, having lost to Montana in 2018 and 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 tournament when the Eagles entered as the No. 1 seed. Eastern now has a 3-6 record in the championship games, with previous tourney titles in 2004 and 2015 to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
 
* Eastern was making its 18th Big Sky Conference Tournament appearance in 33 years as a member of the league, and now has a record of 20-15 in its 35 games. The Eagles are 7-5 all-time in the quarterfinals, and went on to win tourney titles in 2004 and 2015 to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Eastern is now 9-4 in the semifinals and 3-6 in the championship.
 
* Eastern won its 12 league games by an average winning margin of 14.2 points per game, and its lone league losses were by a total of 12 points (5 twice, 2). Overall entering the postseason, Eastern lost to Oregon by 17, but the Eagles lost their other six other games by an average margin of just 3.8 points (5 three times, 3 twice, 2).
 
* Eastern headed to Boise with a late-season starting lineup that consisted of two juniors and three sophomores. The team's lone seniors -- Jacob Davison and Jack Perry – started Eastern's final regular season game on March 5 in a 75-62 home win over Idaho State, and had 18 and 11 points, respectively. Perry has remained in the starting lineup, but Davison has come off the bench in the last three games and was replaced by sophomore Jacob Groves. Through the Kansas game, 10 different Eagles have combined for 87 double-figure scoring performances, and three players have combined for 12 double-doubles.
 
* Eastern had a nine-year stretch from the 2004-05 season through 2012-13 in which the Eagles won just 61 Big Sky games and were a collective 2-3 in the league tournament. In the eight years since then, Eastern has won 100 league games with at least 10 each season. Eastern is 12-4 in the Big Sky Tournament with titles in 2015 and 2021 (starting with the 2014-15 season).
 
* Eastern head coach Shantay Legans is one of 25 finalists for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award which goes to a coach who not only achieves success on the court but who displays moral integrity off the floor as well. He is also among the 25 finalists for the Ben Jobe Award presented to the top NCAA Division I minority coach. Both awards will be announced on April 1. Legans, the 2019-20 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, is No. 4 in winning percentage in the 58-year history of the Big Sky Conference – second among those who coached at least four seasons. After the conclusion of the league slate, he's 53-20 in four seasons for a percentage of .726. He only ranks behind Phil Johnson (Weber State 1968-71, .886, 39-5), Kermit Davis (Idaho 1989-90, .813, 26-6) and Dick Motta (Weber State, 1963-68, .727, 40-15), and is ahead of Travis DeCuire (Montana 2014-present, .719, 92-36) and Ron Abegglen (Weber State, 1991-99, .717, 86-34). His four-year total of 53 league victories is the best all-time at EWU in 34 seasons in the Big Sky.
 
 
Eagles in National Postseason Tournaments
 
* In the 2017-18 season, Eastern made its sixth appearance in a national postseason tournament in school history and fourth-in-a-row. Eastern advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and 2015, were in the NIT in 2003 and have played in three College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournaments in 2016, 2017 and 2018. In the 2016 CBI, Eastern recorded its first win in a national postseason tournament as a member of Division I with a 79-72 home win over Pepperdine. The Eagles are now 1-7 in postseason national tournaments as a member of NCAA Division I, and 7-13 overall.
 
* Eastern also played in the NAIA Championships (then known as NAIB) on five occasions, with a 6-5 record in appearances in 1942, 1943, 1945, 1946 and 1947. Before beating Pepperdine in 2016, Eastern's previous national tournament victory came on March 12, 1947, when Eastern – then known as the Eastern Washington College of Education Savages – beat Dakota Wesleyan 62-48. One year earlier, Eastern lost to Pepperdine before meeting the Waves again for the second time in school history nearly 70 years to the day later in the CIT.
 
Here is a list of Eastern's all-time games in National Postseason Tournaments as a
member of NCAA Division I (1-8) . . .
3/20/2 – NCAA Tournament - #12 rank/#3 seed Kansas (Indianapolis, Ind.) – L, 84-93
3/13/18 – College Basketball Invitational - at Utah Valley (Orem, Utah) - L, 65-87
3/15/17 – College Basketball Invitational - at Wyoming (Laramie, Wyo.) - L, 81-91
3/21/16 – College Basketball Invitational - at Nevada (Reno, Nev.) - L, 70-85
3/16/16 – College Basketball Invitational - Pepperdine (Cheney, Wash.) - W, 79-72
3/19/15 – NCAA Tournament - #22 rank/#4 seed Georgetown (Portland, Ore.) - L, 74-84
3/19/04 – NCAA Tournament - #3 rank/#2 seed Oklahoma St. (Kansas City, Mo.) - L, 56-75
3/20/03 – National Invitation Tournament - at Wyoming (Laramie, Wyo.) - L, 71-78
 
Here is a list of Eastern's all-time games in the NAIA Tournament, which was then known as the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament (6-5) . . .
3/13/47 – NAIB Tournament - Marshall (Kansas City, Mo.) - L, 48-56
3/12/47 – NAIB Tournament - Dakota Wesleyan (Kansas City, Mo.) - W, 62-48
3/11/47 – NAIB Tournament - Culver-Stockton (Kansas City, Mo.) - W, 51-48
3/14/46 – NAIB Tournament - Pepperdine (Kansas City, Mo.) - L, 42-46
3/13/46 – NAIB Tournament - Southeastern Oklahoma (Kansas City, Mo.) - W, 45-37
3/12/46 – NAIB Tournament - Louisiana Tech (Kansas City, Mo.) - W, 66-44
3/13/45 – NAIB Tournament - Doane - (Kansas City, Mo.) - L, 51-54
3/11/43 – NAIB Tournament - Southeast Missouri (Kansas City, Mo.) - L, 51-57 (ot)
3/10/43 – NAIB Tournament - St. Cloud State (Kansas City, MoW, 54-51
3/09/43 – NAIB Tournament - Valparaiso (Kansas City, Mo.) - W, 54-52
3/10/42 – NAIB Tournament - Southeastern State (Kansas City, Mo.) - L, 33-43
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Shantay Legans
 
On Performance by the Groves Bros: "It's an unbelievable stage and it's great for them because they are terrific humans. It is fun to coach them and see them end the season on a high note. Even though we didn't win, they played great basketball. For both of them to get 20, you'd have to search to find two brothers to ever both get over 20 in the same game in the NCAA Tournament. We are proud of them and they are right there in our backyard. They were un-recruited and played great against some of the top players in the nation. They did a great job."
 
On Giving Up Offensive Rebounds: "Our first-shot defense was good, but they did a good job of getting offensive rebounds and putting them back in. That was the part that killed us. We did a good job of stopping them, but they would get offensive rebounds and baskets. Those are back-breaking plays. We have to make sure we play the game the right way and we didn't in certain parts of the game. Again, we have to be proud of our team and everything they've accomplished."
 
On Next Season: "We'll come back stronger, come back smarter and come back hungrier. We have the ingredients, but we just have to come back and do it better. We have to be proud of everybody in our program – everybody came up big all year and gave us opportunities to play and had us ready all year along. You have to be happy for the entire program. We have a young team and will have back players with experience. I'm excited about the future of our program and where it's going."