In praise of the little guy

 The best part about Markquis Nowell's night Thursday was not the 20 points he scored, nor the 19 dimes he dished, nor the fact he rolled his ankle five minutes into the second half and still was the best player on the floor. 

No, sir. The best part about Markquis Nowell's night Thursday came after all that (plus Kansas State's OT win over Michigan State), when Muggsy Bogues gave him a shout-out on the Magic Twitter Thingy.

Muggsy Bogues! Patron saint of ballin' shorties everywhere.

And, listen, "shorty" is no pejorative in this precinct. It's a badge of honor.

Especially after you watched Nowell, who may not even be all of 5-8, take the game in his hands because Michigan State was not going down unless someone for K-State did.

Fun fact to know and tell: The Spartans, in defeat, made 13 threes in 25 attempts. That's 52 percent to you and me, kids.

Another fun fact to know and tell: K-State responded to that by sticking 11-of-24 from beyond the arc. This included Ismael Massoud's cold-blooded 4-of-6 on his way to 15 points — not bad for a guy averaging 5.5 points on 39.1 percent shooting. 

And Nowell?

Maybe his best play happened in the final minute of overtime, with K-State and Sparty matching buckets as the clock got skinny. 

Nowell had the ball up top. K-State coach Jerome Tang was gesturing something to him from the bench. Nowell was looking at him, gesturing back. 

Then, as if thinking "Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be doing something," he lifted a perfect, practically no-look lob to Keyontae Johnson for a reverse slam that all but sealed it.

It was his 18th assist of the night. He'd get one more, which broke an NCAA Tournament record for single-game assists that had stood for 36 years.

Amazing stuff. But then, it was a night for little guys doing amazing stuff.

This brings us to Florida Atlantic, a Conference USA school from Boca Raton which won its 34th game of the season last night by beating the Brawny Lad of the SEC, Tennessee. The final was 62-55, and the Owls did it the way they've done it all season, by pushing the rock and expertly spacing the floor to just as expertly find the open look. Eight Owls played at least 13 minutes; all but one scored.

Atlantic shot horribly in the first half, but the Owls got better. To compensate they went to the glass like piranha, out-Windexing the bigger Vols 40-36. And when at least a few of FAU's shots began falling and Tennessee's stopped, it was curtains for Rocky Top; the Owls outscored Tennessee 40-28 in the second half and 24-16 in the last 10 minutes.

Now it's on to the Elite Eight for FAU in only its second appearance ever in Da Tournament. Next they'll face Markquis Nowell and a Kansas State team that was picked to finish dead last in the Big 12.

Little guy vs. little guy, in other words. Let the big fun begin.