A 65-61 victory against Pittsburgh had capped an unprecedented run in which four games were won by a total of eight points, ultimately vaulting the Orange from a bubble team to a fifth seed. And yet McNamara stood off to the side after being so central to the action as the tournament's most outstanding player.

''I kind of stay away from the pile. I'm not the biggest guy, so half the time I get run over,'' he said. ''I was in a big pile once and got kicked in the face.''

While the Orange did not come together until they absolutely had to, McNamara said of a club that opens NCAA play Thursday against Texas A&M, ''I'm more proud of this team than any team I played on.''

Alford knows talent

One of the first things Steve Alford did after he was hired as head coach at Iowa in 1999 was check out a high school freshman in Mason City, Iowa.

One of the best things Alford did was to promptly promise a scholarship to Jeff Horner, even if he had to wait three years to see him in a Hawkeyes uniform. It has proved to be worth the wait.

''He's the catalyst, the spirit of our team,'' Alford said. ''Guys feed on him.

Fortunately for the Hawkeyes, Horner is relatively healthy and scoring well as Iowa heads into the NCAA Tournament Friday to play Northwestern (La.) State in Auburn Hills, Mich.