OU-Niagara NCAA Tournament Matchup

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma missed the NCAA tournament last year. Niagara's absence was much longer.

Back in the tournament for the first time in 35 years, the 14th-seeded Purple Eagles face the third-seeded Sooners in a first-round matchup at the McKale Center on Thursday.

Since losing five straight first-round games -- the last in 1998 -- Oklahoma is 10-5 in the NCAA tournament, including a Final Four appearance in 2002. The Sooners are back in the tournament after failing to qualify last season, one year after they won three games as a No. 1 seed before losing to eventual national champion Syracuse.

Niagara is in the tournament for only the second time and the first since the Calvin Murphy-led and Frank Layden-coached team reached the second round in 1970.

Matchup	Oklahoma	Niagara
Record	24-7	20-9
RPI	18	95
Last 10 Games	7-3	7-3
Tournament Seed	No. 3	No. 14
NCAA Tournaments	22	2
Avg. Points	75.4	85.2
Opp. Avg. Points	63.0	78.2
Avg. Margin	12.4	7.0
FG Pct.	.483	.438
Opp. FG Pct.	.430	.465
3-Pt FG Pct.	.384	.364
Opp. 3-Pt FG Pct.	.291	.359
3-Pt FG/Game	6.7	9.1
Opp. 3-Pt FG/Game	3.7	6.3
FT Pct.	.684	.758
Rebound Margin	4.1	7.5
TO Diff.	2.0	-0.1
Avg. Steals	8.8	6.9
Avg. Blocks	4.2	3.3

Purple Eagles coach Joe Mihalich knows his team isn't being given much of a chance to beat the Sooners.

``We knew we were going to play a great team and we are,'' Mihalich said. ``It'll be a great, great challenge. It's a David and Goliath-type situation, but our players, they don't think of themselves as David.''

Oklahoma had a strong finish to the regular season, rebounding from three straight losses in February with six consecutive wins. That gave the Sooners a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship, their first league title since the Billy Tubbs-coached 1989 team won the Big Eight.

The Sooners, coming off their eighth straight 20-win season, opened the Big 12 tournament with a victory over Missouri before falling to Texas Tech in the semifinals.

Sooners coach Kelvin Sampson believes defense is the biggest factor determining success in the NCAA tournament.

``You always have to have great guard play on both ends of the floor, not making mistakes, hitting your free throws and knocking down the three,'' he said. ``But the number one key is defense. The teams that advance the farthest usually have great defense and great guard play.''

Sampson has good reason to be confident because his team led the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing 63.0 points per game while limiting opponents to 43.0 percent shooting.

Oklahoma vs. Niagara Preview | CNNSI - Austin Region Breakdown

Strong guard play is something Oklahoma has gotten plenty of lately. Guards have accounted for 64 percent of the team's scoring over the last eight games after producing 55 percent in the season's first 23 contests.

Junior guard Terrell Everett was the Sooners' best player down the stretch. He is averaging 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 50.0 percent (10-of-20) from 3-point range in his last eight games.

While Oklahoma is a heavy favorite, the best player on the court may be senior forward Juan Mendez of the Purple Eagles.

Mendez, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year, is the only Division I player this season to rank in the top 10 in both scoring (23.6) and rebounding (10.5).

Earlier this season, Mendez became the top-scoring Canadian-born player in Division I history, passing the likes of NBA star Steve Nash.

``He'd start for anybody in our conference,'' Sampson said.

Mendez is the biggest reason why the Purple Eagles were the nation's fourth-best offensive team, averaging 85.3 points per game.

This is the first meeting between the schools.