By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
After what happened Thursday, Oklahoma is well aware that it goes into its game with No. 14 seed Albany wearing a large target in addition to their uniforms.
The Sooners are a No. 3 seed in the East Regional. As most of you are probably well aware, two Big 12 Conference teams who were No. 3 seeds – Iowa State and Baylor – were victims of upsets in Thursday’s action.
Oklahoma takes on the Great Danes of the America East Conference. They earned that league’s automatic bid thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer. So, Albany also has experienced some March Madness gladness.
“I think all the pressure is on them,” said Albany senior Sam Rowley said Thursday.
The Sooners were being interviewed when news came down that Baylor had joined Iowa State as upset victims. Those two teams, like OU, had received lots of attention as teams that could make deep NCAA runs.
“Very surprised,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. “Two great teams that had great years and outstanding players. That's the nature of the NCAA Tournament, I guess. It's surprising anytime that happens, but it's happened before.”
The Sooners figure that the Great Danes will want to go for a walk when the teams take the court.
"I think they like to play slow-it-down, play half-court game," Sooners' Ryan Spangler said. "Obviously, we want to get out and run. So we know it's going to be important for us to start out early and try to set the tempo for ourselves."
Kruger is seeking his first NCAA Tournament victory in his third trip to the tourney as the Sooners’ coach. His team will likely need to exhibit patience.
"Usually in these games what we’ve tried to do, especially the past two years, is make them ugly,” Albany coach Will Brown said. “Control tempo. Limit possessions. The tough part with Oklahoma is if we pass up a decent shot, we might not get a better shot during that possession.”
East Regional
6:27 p.m. Friday, Columbus, Ohio
No. 3 Oklahoma (22-10) vs. No. 14 Albany (24-8)
Sooners update: Junior guard Buddy Hield, the Big 12 player of the year, is shooting just 33.7 percent over his last 10 games. Oklahoma is one of just six teams (and the only one among the “Power 5” conferences) that has started the same five players in every game this season. The Sooners’ seven victories over Associated Press top 25 foes (at the time of competition) are the most in school single-season history. OU’s .385 opponent field goal percentage is on track to be its lowest since 1959-60 (.339). In fact, only once in the last 53 years have the Sooners held their opponents to a season field goal mark under .400 (.398 in 2008-09).
Great Danes update: Peter Hooley, who hit the game-winning shot in the conference championship game, is one of four Australians on the roster. Albany center Richard Peters, a 6-11, 275-p0und sophomore, is from Ontario. In 2009 as a high schooler he committed to play for the Sooners but never went to school there. Sam Rowley, a 6-6 senior forward, leads the team in scoring (14.6 points per game) and rebounding (7.7 per game). Junior guard Evan Singletary averages 13 points per game and is the team’s top 3-point shooter at 40 percent. Albany is making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and has a 1-4 record.
What’s next: Winner plays on Sunday against the winner of Providence and Boise State/Dayton first-round game.