Hawks head south to take on Sooners

After a shaky end to the regular season that brought their postseason chances into serious jeopardy, the Saint Joseph's men's basketball team finally knows their fate. They will be headed to Birmingham, Al. for a Friday-Sunday matchup in the East Regional.

Their first round opponent is Oklahoma, who finished the regular season fourth in the Big 12 with a 22-11 overall record, 9-7 in conference. In addition to their success in conference, the Sooners also boast six wins against Tournament teams (Gonzaga, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Baylor twice, and a double-overtime thriller over West Virginia). In total, the Sooners are 6-6 against teams in the Big Dance, with all six losses coming in conference. By contrast, the Hawks are 6-5 against teams who are going dancing.

Oklahoma presents the Hawks with serious matchup problems in the low post, with a pair of giants patrolling the paint. McDonald's All-American Blake Griffin has been overshadowed somewhat by the amazing crop of freshmen across the country, but would have garnered consideration for Big 12 Freshman of the Year were it not for standout Michael Beasley at Kansas State. Griffin is a physical presence at 6'10", 243 pounds, and is averaging nearly a double-double with 14.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and has 47 dunks in 30 games played. He has struggled with a knee injury, but returned sooner than expected after less than two weeks on the sidelines in early March.

On the other side of the paint is Oklahoma's elder statesman, Longar Longar. The 6'11" senior is having a successful season despite being sidelined with a broken bone in his leg that caused him to miss only two games in early February. He overcame that injury to become the team's second leading scorer, averaging 11.8 ppg and 5.7 rpg.

The two big men provide huge matchup problems for the Hawks, and Oklahoma will no doubt try to exploit that at every chance they get. Ahmad Nivins, '09, and Arvydas Lidzius, '08, are the team's only true post players, and it is easily the team's thinnest position. As a result, Rob Ferguson, '08, will be dragged into the paint often, outside of his area of expertise, as he will have to defend either Longar or Griffin when they're on the court at the same time. That leaves Idris Hilliard, '11, although he is undersized, as the only other option to slow down the Sooners' pair of big men.

The team's only other double-digit scorer is Tony Crocker, a versatile 6'6" guard who averages 11.5 ppg.

Overall, Oklahoma lacks experience. It is their first Tournament appearance since 2005-06 and the first under coach Jeff Capel, who is in his second season after replacing Kelvin Sampson. There are very few holdovers from Sampson's tournament teams, with only Longar and fellow senior David Godbold receiving serious minutes on that team.

The program is only five years removed from receiving a number one seed in 2003 and reached the Final Four in 2002. But those teams, led by the likes of Hollis Price and Ebi Ere, were much different from today's Sooners in overall talent and tenacity.

The Sooners love to exploit their advantage down low to win games. They shoot a high percentage from the field (44.6) based mainly on high-percentage shots from the big men, but can also step out to hit the three effectively at a 35.5 percent clip.

They are a weak free-throw shooting team, however, completing only 67.9 percent of their attempts from the line. In the case of Longar and Griffin, it may be more advantageous to send them to the line as often as possible. They are each shooting 59 percent from the charity stripe, while converting 53 and 56 percent of their shots from the field, respectively.

St. Joe's may have the advantage in the backcourt. The tall physical guards of the Hawks will have to come up big on both ends of the court to counter Oklahoma's advantage on the interior.

The Hawks will also need to control the boards against Oklahoma, who held a 36.1-32.9 rebounding advantage on opponents this season. The Sooners are also notoriously fast starters, holding a 16-2 record when leading at the half.

The one thing that may be to the Hawks' advantage is history. The last time Oklahoma was in the Tourney, they were a six seed and fell to 11 seeded University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Should the Hawks advance, they would face the winner of Louisville and Boise State. Boise State gained an automatic bid to the Field of 65 after winning the WAC Conference tournament. They sport a record of 25-8, led by senior Reggie Larry, who averages nearly 20 points per game. While the divide in talent is drastic, the Broncos are a veteran team and could use that experience to challenge the Cardinals.

The Broncos face a difficult test from Louisville (24-8), who finished second in the very strong Big East Conference that sent eight teams to the Tournament. They present matchup problems all over the court and have a balanced attack featuring seven legitimate scoring threats. David Padgett is the leading scorer and veteran leader at 11.7 ppg, but mid-season knee surgery has caused numerous questions about his durability.

The Cardinals are a strong defensive team that will go as far as their point guard play, split between Edgar Sosa and Andre McGee, takes them. They have the benefit of veteran coach Rick Pitino behind the bench, who knows what it takes to reach the Final Four.