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Last year, the Mountaineers lost to Charleston in the conference tournament title game after leading for 34 minutes. With the loss went the school's vision of its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1979, when Bobby Cremins was coach.

One player who took the setback especially hard was point guard Tyson Patterson, then a junior.

Spring break had just started and Patterson begged coach Buzz Peterson to let him wear his jersey home and keep it until it was time to return from vacation.

Patterson was thinking of the seniors on that team. "You never want to lose your last game, especially in a big championship game like that," Patterson said.

"He's such a competitor," Peterson said. "He said, 'Coach, please, I will bring my uniform jersey back. But I've got to wear it home. I'll remind myself next year how much this hurt, so I need to keep it on.' "

That kind of devotion has helped Patterson emerge as the leader behind Appalachian State's success this year.

Patterson delivered an emotional speech to the team before Christmas. His message about work habits and execution during practices paid off.

Appalachian State (located in Boone, N.C.) went 10-0 in January and had won 11 consecutive games before a certain league nemesis snapped the streak last Saturday. The College of Charleston beat them 69-64.

Those two schools are likely to meet again in a conference title game. Peterson wants his players to sweat the small details every day. That way, surviving a major obstacle in the league tournament is less taxing.

"The loss (to Charleston on Saturday), hopefully that's something we can get back and look at details and see if there's something we're doing wrong," Peterson said. "This time of year, you've got to make sure practice is fun and that it's also not stale.

"I've taken the approach, basically, of just one game at a time and working our way to our goal. Like I was telling the guys, we are 9-1 in the conference with a three-game (North Division) lead. Two or three years ago, we would have been so excited with that. I want to make sure we keep ourselves focused on every game leading up to (the tournament)."

When Patterson spoke before Christmas, he stressed that every player do some soul-searching during the holiday.

"It was a point in the season where now was the time to talk about it, or pretty soon it would be too late," Patterson said. "When they came back, I wanted everybody to be dedicated. I wanted everybody to think, as an individual, what they could bring to the team -- getting a loose ball, taking a charge, whatever.

"It seemed like after Christmas everyone started learning, defining their own role for what they needed to do to help the team win."

Said Peterson: "We got back to practice on the 28th (of December) and it was a different ball team. Enthusiastic. Losing to Charleston the other night was the first regular-season conference game we'd lost since January of last year. We started paying attention to those little things."

The Mountaineers rely especially on four players -- Patterson, swingman Shawn Alexander, center Cedrick Holmes and shooting guard Rufus Leach.

Patterson delivered the Mountaineers' top individual performance this season when he went 12-for-12 from the floor, including five shots from 3-point range, on the way to a 31-point game against Western Carolina.

Leach, the Mountaineers' leading scorer with 16.2 points per game, does not start. "I've told him the most important thing is you're in the game the final five minutes," Peterson said.

Envisioning his team with a chance to win in the final five minutes of the Southern Conference tournament title game excites Peterson, who roomed for two years with Michael Jordan when both played at North Carolina.

This team, he said, continues to develop a chemistry. The seniors understand how sweet it would be to reach the NCAAs. They understand how painful it would be to fall short.

"We lost the other day, and I go in there (to the locker room) and our kids have their heads down," Peterson said. "I said, 'Guys, get your heads up. You've played 10 conference games, you've won nine and you've got a three-game lead. There is nothing to hang your heads about.'

"We have a lot of team unity," he added. "Teammates have to get along. We go to church every other Sunday as a team; believe it or not, our guys like that. I'll bring them to the house and we'll have pool tournaments, Ping-Pong tournaments, watch the big-screen TV. We have a little creek behind the gym and we'll race plastic boats. We call those yacht races."

Peterson would like to have everyone together for one special social occasion in March -- to watch the Mountaineers' opponent announced on the NCAA selection show.

Win the SoCon Tournament and it happens.

"That's probably where it would be, in front of that big-screen TV," Peterson said. "We've got to do the little things in practice to reach that dream. I think how every practice between now and then is to work at continuing to get better every day."

Elsewhere in the South

Once around the South via SportsLine's team reports

Georgia's Coleman talks back

Georgia's Shon Coleman has become the whipping boy for fans in Southeastern Conference arenas. He doesn't know why, and he doesn't really care.

"It's the same thing every time,'' Coleman said.

Florida fans began by chanting "Coleman sucks'' for much of the first half. Midway through the second quarter, and deep into his 17 points and six rebounds, the chant became "One-man team.'' In the second half, Coleman was taunting fans and giving it right back.

"I talked to him about it before the game and he said, 'Coach, I've got to get them once,'" Harrick said. "It seems to drive him, but I don't like it."

Wake's wheels falling off

So much for that idea that Wake Forest could be an NCAA Tournament team. So much for those wins over Wisconsin, Temple and Arkansas.

Everything looked so perfect back in December. The Demon Deacons appeared to be a real team, a team that could be a factor in the ACC race. But not any more.

"I think our team is playing a little bit better," Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. "But the improvement may be harder to detect. Morale is good, but we've just got to have a key break here or a key break there."

Simmons coming through for Florida State

Florida State's Oliver Simmons remembers all too well missing the front end of two one-and-one opportunities last season at Wake Forest, which could have sealed a victory. Simmons' errant free throws came at the end of an 87-85 loss, as the Seminoles blew an 18-point second-half lead.

Steve Robinson promised Simmons that day that he would get a chance to redeem himself in a game-ending situation. Now it's happened twice this season ... and the senior forward and one-time Kentucky Wildcat has delivered twice.

At Holmes on the bench

Alabama-Birmingham senior shooting guard Eric Holmes continues to come off the bench in Conference USA games, even though he leads the team in scoring with 16 points a game and has scored 20 or more points in six of the past seven games. After starting 10 of the first 12 games, Holmes has been the Blazers' sixth man in each of the past eight games. And he does not seem to enjoy the role.

"I'll never be happy about not starting," Holmes said. "I'll do whatever it takes, but I'd rather be starting."

UAB coach Murry Bartow pointed out that Holmes played 36 of the 40 minutes against Cincinnati.

"He's still getting his minutes," Bartow said. "I just like having him come in and give us a scoring punch. The one thing Eric can do is score. He can make 3s or he can go by you off the dribble. He's tough to guard because he keeps you off balance."