• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

St. Joseph's looking to spring upset of Oklahoma

Mar 21, 2008 - 11:18 AM No. 11 St. Joseph's (21-12) vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (22-11) 7:10 pm EDT BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Ticker) -- Prior to the start of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, St. Joseph's coach PhilMartelli gave his team an ultimatum - run the table or go home.The motivational ploy worked.St. Joseph's reached the Atlantic 10 Conference championshipgame before losing to city rival Temple. That was enough forthe Hawks to receive one of the final at-large bids into theNCAA Tournament.St. Joseph's got a No. 11 seed and will take on No. 6 Oklahoma(22-11) on Friday in an East Region first-round game.The Hawks (21-12) are making their first tournament appearancesince their magical run in 2004, when the Jameer Nelson-led teamfinished unbeaten in the regular season and reached the EliteEight."It's been my dream forever to play in the tournament, and mysenior year I finally got it," St. Joseph's forward Pat Calathestold the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It was our goal to make thetourney, but we want to finish up with more than just this.We'd definitely like to win some games."While St. Joseph's doesn't have anyone as talented as Nelson, itcould be a difficult out. The Hawks like to play harassingdefense and will aim to exploit Oklahoma's inconsistentbackcourt tandem of Austin Johnson and David Godbold, whocombine to score less than 16 points per game.St. Joseph's beat Xavier twice in two weeks, including a 61-53win in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament when theMusketeers were held to their lowest point total of the season.Still, the Hawks will have to contend with Oklahoma freshmanforward Blake Griffin, a banger inside who gets overlookedbecause he plays in the same conference as Kansas State'sMichael Beasley.The winner of Friday's contest takes on the Louisville-BoiseState winner in the second round on Sunday.