MINNEAPOLIS -- As loud as the Metrodome was Friday afternoon, the silence in the North Dakota State locker room in the ensuing moments after losing to Kansas was deafening. There were not many dry eyes.
Such is the reaction of a near-miss in the first round of the NCAA tournament. All of it -- the quad of fifth-year seniors, the majesty of the "Big Dance" and Ben Woodside's 37 points in defeat -- came to sudden halt.
Never was that more profound than when senior forward Brett Winkelman left a college basketball court for the last time. He paused, looked around the announced crowd of 15,794 and took a good look for the memory book.
"I just wanted to take it all in because that was the last moment in this jersey," he said later. "I waved goodbye. I'm never going to forget that."
The people who follow college basketball will not soon forget NDSU.
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The Bison lost 84-74, but they didn't go down without a love fest of compliments.
"That whole team, fans, seems class to me," said Kansas head coach Bill Self. "From an objective perspective, although I didn't feel like it during the game, that was a pretty cool setting today."
Self stopped Woodside after the teams shook hands for an extended conversation. Everybody took their turn lauding the team that made the tournament in its first year of Division I eligibility. They were the little engine that couldn't quite get up the hill against a defending champion.
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven stopped into the locker room.
Those close to the players did their best to put on a brave face.
"It hurts," said NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor. "Those guys wanted to win as much as anybody and they felt they could. They're hurting right now, but they have nothing to do but hold their heads high."
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