I’m cheating on the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament with the Big East tournament tonight. I was able to get a last-minute credential thanks to Drew Dickerson, of the A-10, and his fellow media relations director, John Paquette, of the Big East. I’m here mostly to experience Madison Square Garden for the first time — a big bucket list item for me — but I can also say I’m scouting teams for the Associated Press top-25 poll I have to turn in on Monday. The A-10 tournament doesn’t have any of those teams, though I’ll probably sneak in a vote for Fordham if they win the championship.

Madison Square Garden has exceeded my expectations. I walked around the whole place several times. The elevated walkway viewing area is wild. It’s above the main stands. You might as well be flying in a drone over the court.

The numerous displays honoring the arena’s history are just as interesting as the action on the court between Marquette and Connecticut. There’s are tribute to Wrestlemania I, from 1985, and to the famous dunk by New York Knicks guard John Starks, and so much more. I found one poster about the NIT but nothing about Dayton’s many appearances here.

I’m not the only one with Dayton connections at the Big East semifinals tonight. WHIO’s broadcasting team, Larry Hansgen and Josh Postorino, got tickets from Marquette coach Shaka Smart, who worked with Postorino on Oliver Purnell’s staff. I don’t believe Dayton AD Neil Sullivan is here, but I was joking earlier with other UD people about getting a photo of Sullivan at the Big East tournament to fire up the UD-Big East rumor mill.

Xavier plays Creighton in the second semifinal of the night. I’m sure Xavier fans are happy to be in higher-profile Big East, but they have not won the Big East tournament in eight tries. They won the A-10 tournament four times in their last 15 seasons in the conference (1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006). Their conference tournament championship drought is only three years shorter than Dayton’s.

8:30 a.m.

I ventured into the stands at the Barclays Center during the second half of the final quarterfinal Thursday between Fordham and La Salle. I knew Fordham would bring a good crowd from across town but was surprised to see the stands so packed. Fordham brought more fans to the Barclays Center than I’ve seen total in the six games I’ve seen at Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx over the years.

The crowd of 8,595 propelled No. 3 seed Fordham to a 69-61 victory against No. 11 La Salle, which trailed for the last 28 minutes but got as close as four points three times in the last five minutes.

“I just want to obviously give credit to Rose Thrill — Rose Thrill at the Barclays Center,” said Fordham coach Keith Urgo, the A-10 Coach of the Year. “That energy was absolutely fantastic, and we’re going to need it again Saturday. Tthese guys felt that. It carried us through to that last 40th minute.”

Fordham (25-7) will play No. 2 seed Dayton (21-11) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. UD often has the edge in fan support on neutral courts. That won’t be the case in the next round.

Fordham has the 297th-largest arena in the country. Rose Hill seats 3,200 fans. Fordham averaged 873 fans, last in the A-10. But its fan base, especially its student body, is making the most of a rare opportunity to see Fordham contend for an A-10 championship. The program has never won the tournament.

According to a report by Dick Weiss, Fordham sold 1,500 student tickets for the quarterfinals. Athletic Director Ed Kull cut the cost of student tickets from $20 to $10.

“It felt definitely kind of surreal for me growing up in this area,” Fordham guard Khalid Moore said. “It’s like a dream come true.”