University of the Pacific, the hometown school, had surprised Providence in the NCAA Tournament, and men’s basketball suddenly was thrust onto the front burner.

“I think it’s pretty crazy back there,” Pacific coach Bob Thomason said Saturday. “I feel pretty good because the country club I belong to, nobody was playing golf. They were watching the game. The city and the university are going nuts.”

That’s a far cry from November and December, when Thomason was almost toast before he became the toast of the town. Thomason’s 16th season as the Tigers’ coach began with six losses in the first 10 games.

The low point occurred Dec. 10, when Fresno State flattened the Tigers, 66-51, in Stockton.

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo

“They were probably booing me then,” Thomason said. “They were probably huddling about who they wanted to coach the team.”

But the Stocktonites stuck with Thomason, and look at the results — 21 victories in the last 22 games, a 16-game win streak and the first NCAA Tournament triumph in school history.

“I didn’t go out and read three books about coaching,” Thomason said when asked about the turnaround. “The players just went out and developed confidence in themselves.”

Notably, two of those six early defeats were to Duke and to Saint Joseph’s, both No. 1 seeds in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

“We did start slow,” reserve center Tyler Newton said. “But we had a pretty tough schedule, and it was just a case of putting the pieces together.”

All that is ancient history now. The task at hand is facing tradition-rich Kansas in a venue that was strongly pro-Pacific on Friday night, but decidedly will be pro-Kansas this afternoon.

“I thought it was a home game watching them play after us,” Newton said. “But we’ve been to Utah State, and that’s one of the toughest environments on the West Coast.”

Tough enough that the Utags handed the Tigers their only defeat of 2004 — a 66-51 decision Jan. 15 in Logan, Utah. Since then, Pacific has won 16 in a row.

“We were 17-1 in the league and were co-champs of the Big West,” Newton said. “I know the Big West doesn’t get a lot of love, but we’re proud of what we did.”

If the Tigers stretch their streak to 17, they’ll be one of the tournament darlings without question. But they know that’s a big if.

“Obviously, we’re going to have to play a great game. We know that,” Thomason said. “It’s only 40 minutes, though. It’s not like we have to stay here for a week and play them five times.”

Once in Stockton would be a chore, but once in Kemper Arena is even more of a task.

“I’m sure it’ll help Kansas,” Thomason said. “Obviously, the crowd isn’t going to help our situation. But we understand that. We’re tickled to death to play Kansas in Kemper Arena. That’s as good as it gets.”