The only active player with any experience playing for St. John's in the NCAA tournament prior to Friday was Dwayne Polee II, who suited up for San Diego State against the Red Storm in a first-round game.
Polee, who transferred to San Diego State after his freshman season and has played in the tournament in every season of his career, made a huge difference for the Aztecs, who don't shoot the ball particularly well from the perimeter. Polee made five of seven 3-point attempts to score 15 points in a 76-64 victory.
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But it wasn't just the oddity of a player helping his new team beat his old team in the tournament that made Polee's contribution notable. He nearly had basketball taken away from him for good earlier this season.
Polee collapsed on the court during a Dec. 22 home game and was taken to the hospital. He later underwent surgery to have a heart monitor implanted and missed two months. He returned for a late-February road game at San Jose State and had played in a total of six games prior to his performance on Friday.
The Aztecs' eward for beating St. John's is a date with No. 1 seed Duke on Sunday afternoon. San Diego State will need Polee and sophomore forward Matt Shrigley to have another strong shooting performance to have any chance at an upset. Shrigley came off the bench Friday to make four of five 3-point attempts.
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
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