BELTON — After punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022-23 in Saturday’s ASC Tournament championship, Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s basketball learned of its first round draw—and next game destination—on Monday afternoon.
The Cru, one of three Lone Star State teams in the 2026 NCAA Tournament field, will leave the state for the first weekend, making the trip to St. Peter, Minnesota for the Gustavus Adolphus regional. UMHB (20-7, 5-1 ASC), the No. 36 overall seed, is set to face UW-Stevens Point in a first round duel on Friday, with the winner of that contest battling the winner of host Gustavus Adolphus and Bethany Lutheran.
UMHB’s first round matchup tips off at 4:50 p.m. CT on Friday at Gustavus’ Gus Young Court.
UMHB’s placement in the bracket came as a welcome surprise to the Crusaders after numerous mock brackets released by D3hoops.com and D3Datacast.com had them in the pod at No. 3 overall seed St. Thomas in Houston. Having already played the other three programs projected to be in Houston (St. Thomas, Trinity, Belhaven) in regular season, the decision to fly The Cru north gives the bracket an increased “national” element, while offering Sam Patterson’s squad a chance to face a new opponent from outside the region.
“I’m really excited for our student-athletes,” Patterson said. “I think it has a true NCAA Tournament postseason feel, where we get to travel, we get to play a team that we’re not familiar with, and who’s not familiar with us. Being on a neutral court for our first game is great. I’m really ecstatic for the student-athlete experience this is going to provide our players.
“I think [our players] were surprised as well. That’s the feeling you want to have when you’re watching the selection show. It doesn’t matter if you’re Division I watching on Selection Sunday or Division III on Selection Monday, you want to have that feeling of surprise, anticipation of who you’re going to play, and that’s why I think it’s exciting for it to be a little different from every mock bracket we had seen leading up to this point.”
UMHB’s first round draw is a unique one for the American Southwest Conference champ, who will face UWSP for the first time in program history. UWSP is 19-7 overall, 9-5 in the WIAC, and secured an at-large bid as the No. 20 overall seed in the tournament. Kent Dernbach’s squad finished No. 3 in the WIAC regular season standings and is 5-2 this season against teams that earned bids to the NCAA Tournament. Junior guard Josiah Butler leads the Pointers in scoring at 18.6 PPG and is UWSP’s main offensive catalyst, though the Pointers also have a solid PG in Carter Combs (83 assists, 30 steals) and size on the wings in Seth Miron and Logan Baumgartner.
The Pointers are amongst the most successful programs in Division III history, having won national titles in 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2015. UMHB is 3-3 all-time against the WIAC, having previously faced UW-Platteville, UW-La Crosse, UW-Stout, and UW-Whitewater.
On the other side of the bracket, Gustavus Adolphus is the No. 12 overall seed, bringing in a 25-2 overall as the MIAC regular season and tournament champion. The Gusties are 11-2 at home this season, led by Myles Barnette, who averages 18.8 PPG.
Gustavus faces Bethany Lutheran, the champion out of the UMAC, on Friday. BLC is in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, having won the UMAC title over Minnesota-Morris on Brady Ingersoll’s buzzer-beater. The Vikings are 16-11 overall.
Less than a week after winning the American Southwest Conference Tournament on an opponent’s home floor, UMHB will find itself on the road yet again, albeit in a less familiar venue. But The Cru is experienced in neutral court and road matchups away from Belton, having battled through a non-conference schedule that saw UMHB make trips to Washington, Nevada, and Virginia between November and January. The Cru went 5-1 on those three out-of-state trips, a confidence-booster ahead of the 1,000-mile trek to St. Peter, Minnesota. UMHB is 4-0 in neutral court games this season, highlighted by the win over Redlands (No. 16 in Sunday’s final NPI) at the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas.
“We’re pretty comfortable away from Texas, if you look at our record,” Patterson noted. “So being able to get on planes, travel, change time zones if we had to, and lock in on unfamiliar opponents and unfamiliar locations is an experience we haven’t just had, but one we’ve been successful at. I think that all goes into play for the anticipation to get to do this again on a bigger stage under brighter lights, knowing that we are prepared. As coaches, we feel like we’ve successfully put our guys in a position to succeed based on the Top 20 schedule that we put together in non-conference play.”
While this might be Patterson’s first taste of guiding a Division III program to the NCAA Tournament, he enters this moment as no stranger to the magnitude of postseason basketball in March. A longtime Division I assistant at Baylor and Oral Roberts, Patterson was part of Elite Eight runs with the Bears in 2010 and 2012, before being a key part of ORU’s historic Sweet 16 run in 2023, having coached in 21 Division I NCAA Tournament games in his career. He said Monday that he will draw on that experience as he readies his team for its biggest game of the 2025-26 season to this point.
“I think it would be selfish of me, if I didn’t provide that experience for our guys and try to coach them in what it takes to advance in the postseason,” Patterson said. “I’ve been blessed to coach in 21 Division I NCAA Tournament games, and we’ve won 13 of those, and advanced to multiple Elite Eights, NIT championships, and Sweet 16s at Baylor and ORU. I truly believe that God has given each of us experiences in our past for the purpose of giving it back to the people we’re around. That’s what I want to do for these guys, with leaning on the experiences at the Division I level in the NCAA Tournament, and the mentality it takes to do that and perspective you have to have to go 1-0 each time you’re facing a new opponent.
“That’s the mentality, just going 1-0 and trying to keep your season alive. I feel like my experience being at ORU in a one-bid league in the Summit League helped prepared us for this experience of being in a one-bid league in the ASC, and the importance of winning that conference tournament. So I do feel like it’s my job, and part of my calling, to give back through my experiences to this group of guys and try to advance in this tournament. I’m thrilled to be able to help lead these guys. These are memories they’re going to take with them for the rest of their lives, and I’m thrilled they get to experience it as a team together.”
