March 14, 2010

Center Valley, Pa. - After winning its second Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship on Friday, Lehigh now faces a daunting task in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship as the Mountain Hawks earned a No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region and will take on overall No. 1 seed Kansas on Thursday at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City at a time yet to be announced on CBS.

The Mountain Hawks earned the Patriot League's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament by defeating rival Lafayette, 74-59, for the League title on Friday at Stabler Arena. Lehigh holds a 22-10 overall record, setting a school record for victories in a season. The Mountain Hawks finished 10-4 in the Patriot League to also claim the regular-season crown. They will enter the NCAA Tournament on a five-game winning streak, including three Patriot League Tournament victories by 15 points or more to claim the 2010 League Championship.

Kansas has been ranked as the No. 1 team in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll for a good portion of the season, and is expected to retain that ranking going into the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big 12 Tournament title on Saturday. The Jayhawks hold an overall record of 32-2, and also won the Big 12 regular-season crown with a 15-1 mark.

Lehigh is in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time overall, and second as a Patriot League member. Lehigh's prior appearance as a League member came in 2004, when the Mountain Hawks fell to Florida A & M in an Opening Round game. Lehigh also appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1985 and 1988.

The Mountain Hawks will be trying to become the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1, and to re-create probably the most memorable moment in Patriot League history. They will matchup with Kansas exactly five years to the day and in the same location that No. 14 seed Bucknell beat the No. 3 Jayhawks, 64-63, in a first-round game for the Patriot League's first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament, and one of the biggest upsets in the last decade of the event.

Patriot League teams are 1-2 all-time against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament, with Colgate falling, 82-68, in 1995 and Holy Cross dropping a 70-59 contest in 2002. In both of those contests, the Patriot League representative had a No. 16 seed and drew the No. 1 Jayhawks in the first round. Kansas is the most-played NCAA Tournament opponent for League teams, with no more than two matchups against any other foe. Patriot League teams are 1-3 all-time against current members of the Big 12, including Navy's loss to Missouri in the first round in 1994.

Patriot League teams have won two first-round games, with Bucknell recording each of the triumphs. One year after beating Kansas, the Bison earned a No. 9 seed and knocked off No. 8 Arkansas, 59-55, in the first round. Patriot League teams have a 2-15 record in the first round, and a 2-18 mark in the NCAA Tournament.

Lehigh is the seventh Patriot League team to earn a No. 16 seed, but just the third since 1998 and the first since it went to the Opening Round game in 2004. The Patriot League representative has not dropped a first-round game by more than 15 points since 2000.

Lehigh became the eighth Patriot League program to win multiple titles with its second crown on Friday, and is now the seventh to make more than one NCAA appearance as a League member.

The Mountain Hawks are led by freshman C.J. McCollum and the senior duo of Zahir Carrington and Marquis Hall. McCollum earned both Patriot League Player and Rookie of the Year recognition, and was acknowledged last week on The Sporting News Freshman All-America Team. He is second in the Patriot League and leads all freshmen nationally with 18.9 points per game, and earned All-Tournament honors by averaging more than 20 points in Lehigh's three Patriot League Tournament wins. Carrington was named the Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring 18 points with 10 rebounds and four blocks in the Championship game, while Hall has received multiple honors in his career and is the first player in League history with more than 1,500 points and 500 assists.

The winner of the Lehigh/Kansas game moves on to the second round on Saturday to match up with the winner of Thursday's contest between No. 9 Northern Iowa and No. 8 UNLV. The other pod in Oklahoma City is out of the West Region, with No. 2 Kansas State against No. 15 North Texas and No. 10 Florida versus No. 7 BYU on Thursday.

After Kansas as the top overall seed, the other No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament went to Kentucky (East), Duke (South) and Syracuse (West). For the entire 65-team field, see the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship bracket. All of the NCAA Tournament games will be televised on CBS.

Tickets for Lehigh's first-round NCAA Tournament contest will go on sale to alumni, season ticket holders and members of the Lehigh community on Monday morning beginning at 10:00. All orders must be made by phone or in person at the Lehigh Athletics Ticket Office, located in Grace Hall. One ticket will grant admission into one session of games (two total games) and the cost is $68 per ticket. Tickets for the general public will go on sale beginning at 10:00 on Tuesday morning.