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Mid-majors take center stage in Tampa

Mar 23, 2008 - 1:25 PM No. 13 San Diego (22-13) at No. 12 WKU (28-6) 2:40 pm EDT

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) - Western Kentucky and San Diego both are vying to be this season's "Cinderella."

Only one will get to continue to "dance" as No. 12 seed Western Kentucky faces off with 13th-seeded San Diego in the second round of the NCAA Tournament's West Regional on Sunday.

The two mid-major schools are coming off similar wins that helped them advance out of the first round.

The Hilltoppers (28-6) notched their first tournament win since 1995 as Ty Rogers hit a 26-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to give them a 101-99 overtime win over No. 5 seed Drake on Friday.

Rodgers said he had tons of text messages waiting for him after the huge shot.

"When I got back to the game it was 172, but I don't know what it ended up being," he said.

San Diego (22-13) is coming off a equally thrilling upset of No. 4 seed Connecticut on Friday.

De' Jon Jackson hit a pull-up jumper with 1.2 seconds left in overtime to give the Toreros a 70-69 victory over the Huskies - their first tournament win in four appearances.

Jackson said he was in a similar position as Rodgers after the game.

"Yeah, it was a little crazy after the game," he said. "I'm not sure if I had 172, but I had a lot of text messages. It was kind of exciting for me as well. I never had that many text messages in one day, so it was kind of fun."

Jackson took the last shot because their top scorer Brandon Johnson, who averages 17.0 points, had fouled out. He was also limited by ankle injury, but says he will be ready.

"I was just cramping up real bad and I kind of sprained my ankle," Johnson said. "But overall this opportunity comes once in a lifetime so I got to take advantage of it. So when the ball goes up, all injury is out the window."