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They’ve been to Spokane before, most of them at least.
It was early last season, and the St. Joe’s Hawks flew to Spokane to face then-No. 10 Gonzaga in the McCarthey Athletic Center on Gonzaga’s campus.
“It was terrible,” senior forward Isaiah Miles said with a laugh. “I think we lost by about 60 or 70. It was a bad game.”
It was actually a 52-point loss — 94-42. The worst loss in Hawks history.
Miles and DeAndre' Bembry combined to shoot 2 for 18 that night.
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On Sunday, when St. Joe’s beat Virginia Commonwealth to win its third Atlantic 10 title under Phil Martelli (see game story), Miles and Bembry combined to shoot 24 for 32.
“Spokane hasn’t been good to us, the last time we were there,” Miles said. “But we’re ready to go back and make new memories.”
St. Joe’s returns to Spokane next week to open play in the NCAA Tournament (see story).
The Hawks, a No. 8 seed in the West, open up with No. 9 seed Cincinnati at 9:57 p.m. Friday at Spokane Arena, a few miles west of the McCarthey Center. The winner likely faces No. 1 seed Oregon, which plays the winner of the 16-seed matchup Holy Cross vs. Southern.
“We’re all excited,” Miles said. “It’s a really good Cincinnati team. They play tough, but we play really tough, also. It’s going to be a grind game, but we’re all excited.
“It’s far, it’s away from the fan base, but they’re going to be watching us on TV. We’ll feel their presence.”
St. Joe’s received an automatic bid to the tourney by beating VCU, 87-74, in the Atlantic 10 championship game on Sunday afternoon at the Barclays Center.
The Hawks stayed in New York for Selection Sunday.
In Cincinnati, St. Joe’s draws a team that’s 22-10 and appearing in the NCAA Tournament for a sixth consecutive year.
The Bearcats are only 12-8 since a 10-2 start.
“I’ve watched them, they’re a tough-minded team,” Bembry said. “A lot of guys can score the ball and that’s the thing about them. Their toughness gets them a lot of wins, and that’s similar to us, because we have a toughness about us too. That’ll definitely be a good game to watch."
Cincinnati and St. Joe’s share one very familiar opponent in Temple, which beat the Bearcats by seven in December and in overtime in January.
“Cincinnati will be a team that will be somewhat familiar because we can watch their games against Temple,” Martelli said.
“I just know that they always play very physical, they rely on their [defense], they’re very similar I would think to VCU, the physical challenge that they want to bring.”
St. Joe’s is 27-7 and 23-5 since a 4-2 start.
This is the Hawks’ second NCAA trip in three years but only their third since 2004, when St. Joe’s won a school-record 30 games behind Jameer Nelson and Delonte West and reached the Regional Finals before losing by two to Oklahoma State.
Most of this St. Joe’s roster was on the team two years ago when the Hawks lost to eventual national champion UConn in overtime in the first round in Buffalo.
“We’re a little deeper than the team we had my freshman year,” Bembry said. “My freshman year we only played five guys, six guys a little bit.
“This team, we can go like 10 deep. That’s a big difference about this team. We’ve got different people who can step up each game. Today I stepped up and Isaiah stepped up. And we’re a confident team. We’re going to go into the tournament very confident.”
Bembry and Miles are St. Joe’s stars, but Aaron Brown is averaging double figures, Shavar Newkirk and James Demery are both averaging about 8.5 points per game, and Lamarr Kimble, Papa Ndao and Pierfrancesco Oliva have combined to add 15.5 points and 8.5 boards per game.
“This is a true team,” Martelli said. “They’ve been a team since August. They’ve played that way, they’ve practiced that way, they’ve lifted that way.
“It’s really an honor to have had the opportunity to coach them and to continue to coach them. We just don’t want this to end.”
It’s been 12 years since St. Joe’s last won an NCAA Tournament game.
“When you get invited, there’s a high,” Martelli said. “But when you win a game, it’s entirely way different, and I want them to experience really being in the tournament by playing next Sunday.”
Bembry is one of only two players in Division I averaging at least 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists. The other is LSU’s Ben Simmons.
St. Joe’s is the only school in Division I with two players — Miles and Bembry — averaging 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.
“It’s a senior’s dream,” Miles said. “You know, as a senior, you want to finish out as high as you possibly can, and luckily for us we’re still moving up.
“We won the A-10 championship, we got our name called on Selection Sunday, and the sky’s the limit.
“We’ve still got more work to do, we’ve still got more games to play. I’m ready and I know the seniors are ready to take this team as high as we possibly can go.”