Sharp reflects on March Madness; scores five points as Montana’s
season ends in loss to BC
With just over a minute remaining in Montana’s second-round NCAA Tournament game against Boston College on Saturday, Kyle Sharp had his welcome to March Madness moment.
After matching up against two-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year Nick Fazekas in the first round against Nevada, Sharp found himself guarding BC’s Craig Smith, an NBA-bound forward.
Seeing a shot go up on the defensive end, Sharp found Smith and put his body on him to box him out.
“As soon as he hit the free-throw line, I hit him,” said Sharp of the 6-foot-7, 250-pound Smith.
“I ended up under the basket.”
But Sharp came down with – and held onto – the rebound, leaving him with another treasured moment in a weekend that was full of them.
Sharp’s Grizzlies came down from the high of defeating No. 5 Nevada on Thursday – Boston College eliminated Montana 69-56 – but walked away from the tournament thrilled with the experience and ready to do it all over again.
With a core of talented underclassmen, Montana has high hopes of duplicating its Big Sky Conference Tournament championship next season and returning to March Madness. But for now, the Grizzlies must be content to revel in their upset win over Nevada, and Sharp was happy to re-live some of the best moments.
Getting ready in the locker room for the Nevada game, the Hollister native knew his team had hit the big time. Hearing the roar of the crowd in the preceding game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Sharp could only imagine stepping onto the court.
And then, when he entered the game in the second half and promptly scored, he said he’d never heard anything like it.
“I’ve heard fans cheering, but not that many,” related Sharp by telephone from Mizzoula, Mont. “I just tried to take everything in. The stands just kept going and going.”
After defeating the Wolfpack 87-79, Montana advanced to play No. 4 Boston College on Saturday. The big, physical Eagles (28-7) had been battle-tested in the rugged Atlantic Coast Conference, leaving Sharp and the Grizzlies knowing that they would have to match their aggressiveness. And for the first half, Montana did just that.
“We were doing really well against their size,” recalled Sharp, whose Grizzlies trailed the ACC Tournament runner-up 32-30 at the half. “We were knocking down open shots. We needed to keep up the pressure and keep physical.”
But in the end, No. 4 Boston College was just too tough. The Eagles won the rebounding battle 44-29 and received 22 points and 16 rebounds from Smith.
“That was a tough [loss] because we were all pumped up to play them,” said Sharp. “We lost some steam. We were tired from the whole experience. They were a veteran team. They used their strength around us and banged us around.”
Taking the court for two second-half stints, the San Benito High alum found plenty of individual success. Entering the game with just under three minutes remaining, Sharp took an entry pass in the paint, turned and banked in a short jumper.
The next time the Grizzlies had the ball, they again ran their offense through Sharp, who was fouled while shooting and hit the back end of his two free throws.
Two Eagles’ possession later came the play that Sharp referred to as “boxin’ the big guy out … it’s part of the game.”
After coming down with that tough defensive rebound in traffic, Sharp again received the ball on the offensive end, and found Smith between him and the basket. Using a pump fake to get the senior big man off balance, the Montana freshman calmly drained another short jumper to give himself five points in less than two minutes.
With his first NCAA experience settling in as he returned to Mizzoula, Sharp called the experience the thrill of a lifetime.
“I’m going to remember it for the rest of my life,” said Sharp. “It was something I want to experience more of and won’t forget.”
