LAS VEGAS – Staring ahead, sitting on a chair by his locker, Jordan Ratinho silently put on his USF team sweats.
The locker room at The Orleans Arena was quiet a year ago, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team— once an NCAA Tournament hopeful — sat, shocked, after a first-round loss to eighth-seeded Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference Tournament ended their season. Ratinho — a 3-point ace averaging nearly 12 points over the previous six games — was held to eight.
"It's like, 'Oh, [shoot], we just lost.' It just kind of like hits you once you get back to the locker room," Ratinho said on Tuesday.