Weird thing was that, in addition to the two conference tournament titles you mentioned, he also got to Sunday in a third tournament (losing to OSU in 2002) and would have got to Sunday in a fourth tournament (2005) had Wisconsin's Alando Tucker not hit the winning shot at the buzzer. And he knocked Izzo out at least twice.
Something was going on there. Something about the quick turnaround or playing multiple consecutive days that somehow brought out the best in Alford's teams. I have no idea.
Past success breeds future success, and vice versa. They got lucky and won one tournament. That gave them more confidence for the next one.