FACTS & STATS: Site: Alltel Arena (16,060) -- Little Rock, Arkansas. Television: CBS. NCAA Tournament Record: Saint Mary's-CA 1-4, Miami-Florida 3-5. Series Record: Miami-Florida leads, 4-0.

GAME NOTES: The first round of the 70th annual NCAA Tournament continues this afternoon in Little Rock, as the Miami-Florida Hurricanes tangle with the Gaels of Saint Mary's-CA at Alltel Arena. Miami opened the 2007-08 campaign as one of the hottest teams in the ACC, winning 12 in a row before bowing to Winthrop in the MetroPCS Orange Bowl Classic. The seventh-seeded Hurricanes were 8-8 in ACC play and won four in a row in league action at one point, with one of those victories coming against Duke by a point at home. As for the 10th-seeded Gaels, they finally made it into the national rankings during the season and were in the chase for the West Coast Conference regular season title against perennial favorite Gonzaga. Unfortunately, the squad lost two of its last four games during the regular season and was dropped by San Diego in double-overtime in the conference tournament, 75-69. Saint Mary's has won just one game previously in the NCAA Tournament in five tries, with Miami showing a record of 3-5. Miami leads the all-time series with the Gaels by a count of 4-0, but considering the most recent meeting took place almost four decades ago in Florida, there's not much that can be gleaned from the performance. The winner of this contest will move to the second round to challenge the winner of the Austin Peay/Texas matchup.

Despite his freshman status, Patrick Mills wasted little time fitting into the scheme of the Gaels this season as he earned a spot on the All-WCC First Team by scoring a freshman-record 432 points. Mills ended up with a team-best 14.5 ppg over the course of 31 starts and was first on the unit with his 3.4 apg and 56 steals. Diamon Simpson, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, was responsible for another 13.6 ppg and a team-best 9.5 rpg, all while generating 55 blocked shots. Not to be overlooked was Omar Samhan (10.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and his 42 rejections, helping the squad to produce a league-best 165 blocked shots. In addition to outscoring opponents by an average of nearly 13 ppg, perhaps the most remarkable stat for the Gaels is that they maintained the same starting lineup for each and every game this season.

In a conference that is piled high with top-flight performers, Miami was proud to have one of its own on the All-ACC First Team this season as junior Jack McClinton made the cut. McClinton was the leader on the team with his 17.0 ppg and 79 assists, all while shooting an incredible 90.8 percent at the free- throw line. More than that, McClinton also knocked down 42.6 percent of his shots behind the three-point line, which turned out to be better than his 42.1 percent from the field overall. James Dews tallied 10.4 ppg for a team that produced close to 75 ppg, thanks in large part to 74.1 percent shooting at the charity stripe. The only player to start every game for the 'Canes, Anthony King (7.1 ppg) was the focus of the rebounding effort for the team with his 7.1 rpg. Defensively, the squad limited foes to just 40.7 percent shooting from the floor and forced an average of 14.6 turnovers per outing.

McClinton might get away with having a little more game experience than the Gaels in pressure situations, but there's no denying Saint Mary's was a force out west this season and should continue to be in this event.

Predicted Outcome

Saint Mary's-CA 69, Miami-Florida 65