OU vs. Saint Joseph's NCAA Preview

Oklahoma (22-11) vs. Saint Joseph's (21-12)
Date & Tip Time	Friday, March 21 at 6:10 p.m. CDT
Event	NCAA Tournament First Round
Location	Birmingham, Ala. \| BJCC Arena
TV	CBS
Radio	Sooner Radio Network KOKC AM-1520 in Oklahoma City KTBZ AM-1430 in Tulsa
Webcast	ncaasports.com
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com / GameTracker
Game Info	Gameday Central \| Game Notes (PDF)

FIRST AND SECOND ROUND INFORMATION
Making its 25th NCAA Tournament appearance and first under second-year head coach Jeff Capel, Oklahoma (22-11 overall, 9-7 Big 12 Conference) enters Friday's first-round game against Saint Joseph's (21-12 overall, 9-7 Atlantic 10 Conference) as the East Regional's No. 6 seed. The contest, which will be played at BJCC Arena in Birmingham, Ala., will start at 6:10 p.m. CDT. Saint Joseph's is the region's No. 11 seed.

Should it advance to second-round play, Oklahoma will face the winner of Friday's (No. 3 seed) Louisville versus (No. 14 seed) Boise State game on Sunday at approximately 4 p.m. CDT. The Cardinals sport a 24-8 record while the Broncos are 25-8. Also in Birmingham for the East Regional are No. 2 seed Tennessee, No. 7 seed Butler, No. 10 seed South Alabama and No. 15 seed American.

All of OU's NCAA Tournament games will air live on the Sooner Basketball Radio Network (flagship KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) with Bob Barry, Sr. (play-by-play) and Mike Houck (analyst) calling the action. Friday's and Sunday's games will be televised regionally by CBS (KWTV Channel 9 in OKC and KOTV Channel 6 in Tulsa). Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery will announce, Mark Wolff will produce and Suzanne Smith will direct.

OU's NCAA Tourney Primer |

Tournament Bracket

OKLAHOMA AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• OU is making its 25th NCAA Tournament appearance and 12th in the last 14 years.
• The Sooners have made four Final Four appearances (1939, 1947, 1988 and 2002). They played in the 1947 and 1988 national championship games.
• OU is 8-4 in its last four NCAA Tournaments, with a Final Four showing in 2002 and an Elite Eight appearance in 2003.
• OU is 2-2 as the No. 6 seed. In 2006, the Sooners lost to No. 11 seed UW-Milwaukee (82-74). In 1987, they beat No. 11 seed Tulsa (74-69) and No. 3 seed Pittsburgh (96-93) before losing to No. 2 seed Iowa in overtime in the Sweet 16.

"NOTE" WORTHY
• Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, No. 6 seeds have posted a 63-29 (.685) record in first-round play and a 35-28 (.556) mark in second-round games.
• Oklahoma has won at least 20 games in 11 of the past 12 seasons.
• Guards Tony Crocker (13.1) and Austin Johnson (10.8) are averaging a combined 23.9 points over the last 10 games (7-3 record). They averaged a combined 11.0 over the previous three contests (all losses).
• OU is 13-1 this year when Johnson scores in double figures (went 8-0 in Big 12 play) and 12-1 when Crocker scores at least 12 points.
• Blake Griffin has posted 10 double-doubles on the year. His last seven double-doubles have come against NCAA Tournament teams (he's averaging 20.3 points and 14.7 rebounds in those seven).
• Either Blake (14 times) or Taylor Griffin (seven times) has led OU in rebounding in 21 of the last 23 games.
• In its 22 wins, Oklahoma is shooting .398 from 3-point range. In its 11 losses, OU is shooting .259 from long range.
• OU set an NCAA Division I record (since the advent of the shot clock in 1986) on March 1 against Texas A&M for length of time holding an opponent scoreless (16:12).

Saint Joseph's Projected Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Year	Stats / Notes
F	12	Pat Calathes	6-10	210	Sr.	17.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.7 apg
F	52	Rob Ferguson	6-8	230	Sr.	11.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.2 apg
C	34	Ahmad Nivins	6-9	235	Jr.	14.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 64.5 FG%
G	0	Tasheed Carr	6-4	210	Jr.	10.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 5.6 apg
G	13	Darrin Govens	6-1	175	So.	9.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.4 apg

Oklahoma Projected Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Year	Stats / Notes
F	23	Blake Griffin	6-10	243	Fr.	15.0 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 55.9 FG%
C	30	Longar Longar	6-11	234	Sr.	11.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.1 bpg
G	5	Tony Crocker	6-6	193	So.	11.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 43.8 3FG%
G	20	Austin Johnson	6-3	165	Jr.	8.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.6 apg
G	34	Cade Davis	6-5	203	Fr.	3.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 100.0 FT%

THE LAST TIME IN BIRMINGHAM
The last time Oklahoma played in Birmingham was during the 1988 NCAA Tournament. The top-seeded Sooners downed No. 5 seed Louisville in the Southeast Regional semifinals by a 108-98 score before posting a 78-59 win over No. 6 seed Villanova to advance to the Final Four. OU wound up making it to the national championship game where it lost to No. 6 seed Kansas (83-79).

OU AGAINST THE TOURNEY FIELD
• The Sooners played 15 games against 2008 NCAA Tournament teams and went 7-8. The wins came against Arkansas, Baylor (twice), Gonzaga, Mount St. Mary's, Texas A&M and West Virginia. The losses came to Kansas, Kansas State, Memphis, Texas (three times), Texas A&M and Southern California.
• The Sooners went 2-0 this year against teams playing in the East Regional (Arkansas and Mount St. Mary's).

OKLAHOMA VS. POSSIBLE BIRMINGHAM OPPONENTS
• OU has never faced Saint Joseph's or Boise State in men's basketball.
• The Sooners own a 2-0 all-time record against Louisville. The teams first met in the first round of the 1970 postseason NIT in New York with Oklahoma pulling out a 74-73 overtime win. In the 1988 NCAA Southeast Regional semifinals in Birmingham, No. 1 seed OU received a 34-point, seven-rebound effort from Harvey Grant and a 24-point, 14-rebound performance from Stacey King in a 108-98 win over the fifth-seeded Cardinals. Pervis Ellison led U of L with 23 points and 14 boards.

Who's Hot?
	Blake Griffin \| Fr. \| Forward • A first-team All-Big 12 pick • OU's leader in scoring (15.0), rebounding (9.4) and field goal percentage (.559) • Last seven double-doubles have come against NCAA Tourney teams (20.3 points and 14.7 rebounds in those seven) • Has scored in double figures in 20 of his last 23 games

CAPEL AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• This is the second NCAA Tournament for Jeff Capel as a head coach. In 2004 (his second year at VCU), Capel guided the Rams to a No. 13 seed and a near upset of No. 4 seed Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons, who featured point guard Chris Paul, held on for a 79-78 win in Raleigh, N.C.
• Capel participated in three NCAA Tournaments as a player at Duke, including his freshman year in 1994 when the second-seeded Blue Devils advanced to the national title game. Capel, who started the contest, finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists in a 76-72 loss to No. 1 seed Arkansas in Charlotte, N.C.
• Capel's 1996 Duke squad (No. 8 seed) lost in the first round to No. 9 seed Eastern Michigan (75-60 in Indianapolis) while his 1997 team (No. 2 seed) beat No. 15 seed Murray State (71-68 in Charlotte) before falling in the second round to No. 10 seed Providence (98-87).

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
• Oklahoma is back in the NCAA Tournament after seeing its nation's-longest 25-year postseason streak (20 NCAAs, five NITs) come to an end last year. The Sooners were 16-15 a season ago.
• After starting 3-5 in Big 12 Conference play, Oklahoma won six of its final eight league games and finished in a tie for fourth place at 9-7. OU won the tie-breaker with Baylor and earned a first-round bye in the Big 12 Championship.
• The Sooners went 1-1 in the Big 12 Championship, beating No. 12 seed Colorado (54-49) in the quarterfinals before losing to No. 1 seed Texas (77-49) in the semifinals.
• OU has won four of its last five games and seven of its last 10.
• Over the last five games, Oklahoma has has held its opponents to an average of 57.0 points and to .386 field goal and .273 3-point shooting. It has held foes to 30 or fewer points in seven of 10 halves over those five outings (an average of 24.1 in those seven halves).
• Also in their wins, the Sooners have made more free throws (355) than their opponents have attempted (325).
• OU is 3-2 in neutral site games this year. In addition to the Big 12 Championship, the Sooners played at Madison Square Garden in mid-November and lost to then-No. 3 Memphis (63-53) before beating Gardner-Webb (69-55). They also beat then-No. 18 Gonzaga (72-68) in Oklahoma City on Dec. 20.
• OU is shooting .478 from the field and .398 from 3-point range in its wins but just .371 and .259, respectively, in its losses.
• The Sooners are 18-4 when their opponent commits more turnovers, 16-4 when outrebounding their opponent, 16-2 when ahead at the half, 10-1 when shooting at least .500 from the field and 13-4 when winning the opening tip.
• Oklahoma has already won six more games than it did last year when it finished with a 16-15 record.

GRIFFIN NAMED FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG 12
Freshman forward Blake Griffin was named a first-team All-Big 12 selection by the league's head coaches and by the Associated Press. Joining Griffin on the coaches' squad were Baylor's Curtis Jerrells, Kansas' Darrell Arthur and Brandon Rush, Kansas State's Michael Beasley and Texas' D.J. Augustin. The AP team consisted of Griffin, Augustin, Beasley, Jerrells and Nebraska's Aleks Maric. Griffin became OU's first freshman to earn first-team all-conference acclaim since Wayman Tisdale was crowned Big Eight Player of the Year in 1983.

• On the season, Griffin is averaging 15.0 points (ranks eighth in Big 12), 9.4 rebounds (ranks fourth) and 1.8 assists while shooting .559 from the field (ranks third).
• In his 13 full Big 12 games (he missed two outings due to injury and only played five minutes at Kansas on Jan. 14), Griffin averaged 16.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
• Griffin has scored in double figures in 20 of his last 23 games (not including the Kansas contest).
• Griffin holds OU's top four scoring performances this season. He netted 29 versus Baylor (Feb. 19), 27 against Kansas State (Jan. 12), 26 versus Mount St. Mary's (Jan. 7) and 25 at Colorado (Feb. 9). He also holds 10 of OU's top 11 rebounding marks.

OU Fast Fact

This marks Oklahoma's 26th postseason appearance (21 NCAA Tournaments and five NITs) in the last 27 years. No other Division I program in the country has more postseason appearances over the last 27 campaigns than OU.

FRONTCOURT UPDATE
• Freshman forward Blake Griffin sustained a partially torn medial meniscus in his right knee with 15:15 remaining in the first half of OU's 64-37 win over Texas A&M on March 1. Griffin underwent arthroscopic surgery the following morning and returned to game action six days later. He is averaging 12.7 points and 10.0 rebounds in 25.0 minutes per game over three contests since.
• Griffin has 10 double-doubles on the year and is averaging 19.2 points and 13.9 rebounds in those contests. His last seven double-doubles have come against teams in this year's NCAA Tournament (averaging 20.3 points and 14.7 in those seven).
• Senior center Longar Longar missed two games (Feb. 6 vs. Texas and Feb. 9 at Colorado) due to a broken bone in his lower right leg but has returned to average 26.0 minutes over 10 games since (OU is 7-3 during the stretch). Longar is averaging 8.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in those 10 outings (10.4 and 7.4 over the last five).
• Longar is the team's second-leading scorer (11.6) and rebounder (5.7) on the year, as well as its top shot-blocker (1.1).
• Seeing a major increase in minutes the last two months, junior forward Taylor Griffin averaged 9.5 points and 6.3 rebounds over a 10-game stretch (starting on Jan. 14) before averaging 5.0 points and 6.6 boards over the last seven outings. Griffin has started 14 of the last 16 games (averaging 26.7 minutes in those 16).
• Starting in place of his injured younger brother on Jan. 19 against Texas Tech, Taylor Griffin tied a then-career high with 16 points and grabbed a then-season-high 12 rebounds. On Jan. 28 against Oklahoma State, he was 7-for-8 from the field and scored a career-high 20 points while pulling down a game-high six boards. On Feb. 6 against Texas, he netted 12 points and grabbed a career-high 15 boards in place of an injured Longar.
• Taylor Griffin shot .667 from the free throw line in non-league play (20-for-30), but has posted a .807 mark since (46-for-57).

BACKCOURT UPDATE
• Sophomore Tony Crocker, one of the Big 12's best 3-point shooters at .438 (63-for-88), has made at least three treys in a game 11 times and is 42-for-65 (.646) in those contests. He has already made 28 more 3-pointers this year than he did all of last season (35) when he shot a team-high .357 from behind the arc. His streak of seven consecutive 3-point makes was snapped in the regular season finale against Missouri.
• Crocker ranks third on the team in scoring (11.5), fifth in rebounding (3.8) and second in assists (2.0).
• Since averaging 7.3 points during OU's three-game losing streak to start February, Crocker is averaging 13.1 over the last 10 contests (7-3 record). Included was a 22-point effort against Iowa State (Feb. 13), a 20-point game versus Baylor (Feb. 19) and a career-high 25-point outing at Oklahoma State (March 5). Against the Bears, Crocker scored OU's final seven points in the last 21 seconds of overtime (his four-point play with 7.3 seconds left was the game-winner). He was 5-for-5 from behind the arc at OSU.
• Junior Austin Johnson has responded nicely from a 3.3 scoring average over three losses to begin February and is averaging 10.8 points over the last 10 contests.
• Johnson's three highest scoring efforts this season have come within the last nine games. He netted a career-high 20 points at Texas Tech (Feb. 16) with the help of a career-high six 3-pointers, scored 19 the next game (Feb. 19) against Baylor and finished with 18 in the regular season finiale against Missouri. OU won all three games. He also registered a career-high 10 assists (against only two turnovers) last Saturday versus Texas in the Big 12 Championship semifinals.
• Johnson's value is illustrated in the fact that Oklahoma is 13-1 (it went 8-0 in Big 12 play) when he scores in double figures.
• A starter in the team's first eight league games, senior David Godbold has come off the bench in eight of the last 10 outings. Godbold averaged 8.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 32.8 minutes per Big 12 game (second most minutes on team).
• Godbold turned in a career-high 22-point outing at Texas A&M on Feb. 2, a game in which he was 6-for-10 from 3-point range.
• Freshman Cade Davis has started six games on the year (four starts have come over last five contests). He averages 3.9 points and 1.5 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game on the season, but over the last six contests is averaging 5.5 points and 20.2 minutes (he has made seven 3-pointers in those six outings).
• Davis made five of OU's 10 3-pointers over the team's two Big 12 Championship games last weekend.
• Davis, who is 22-for-22 from the free throw line, scored nine points (3-for-7 on 3-pointers) last Saturday against Texas. His career high of 11 points came against Iowa State on Feb. 13 when he was 3-for-3 from 3-point distance.
• Junior Omar Leary is averaging 4.0 points in 16.8 minutes per game. He started eight of the team's first 10 contests but has come off the bench in each of the last 23. A .391 shooter from 3-point range (27-for-69), he scored seven points March 5 at Oklahoma State (his most in 18 games) thanks to a 2-for-2 effort from behind the arc.
• Freshman Tony Neysmith is averaging only 6.1 minutes in his 20 games this year but recently started four consecutive contests. Neysmith, a defensive presence, started against Iowa State (Feb. 13), at Texas Tech (Feb. 16), versus Baylor (Feb. 19) and at Texas (Feb. 23). He totaled six points in those games and helped OU to wins in the first three of those outings.

A FIRST-ROUND OKLAHOMA WIN WOULD...
• Give the Sooners at least one victory in the NCAA Tournament for the 17th time in 25 overall appearances and for the fourth time in their last five appearances.
• Improve OU's NCAA Tourney record to 9-4 since the start of the 2002 event.
• Improve the Sooners' NCAA Tournament record as a No. 6 seed to 3-2.
• Improve OU's NCAA Tournament record against current Atlantic 10 teams to 4-2. The Sooners beat Saint Louis in 1947, Charlotte in 1999 and Xavier in 2002. They lost to Dayton in 1984 and to Temple in 1996.

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