2009 NCAA Tournament: Sweet 16 Preview

Griffin included, Oklahoma's top five scorers account for 65 points a game. Syracuse's top five scorers all average at least 10 a game and total 66.2 points. Eric Devendorf and Jonny Flynn contribute 17.3 and 15.9 points.

This is Oklahoma's deepest NCAA run since 2003, when Hollis Price led the Sooners to the East Regional final, ironically to lose to Syracuse and Carmello Anthony. Syracuse hasn't won a Sweet 16 game since.

The Orange competed in the Big East, which has five of the remaining 16 teams in the tournament. Although they had some tough losses, Syracuse did beat a slate of the Sweet 16 teams -- Kansas, Memphis and Connecticut. It also took down Marquette, which fell in the last round to Missouri. Despite a mid-season cluster of losses, it finished the season relatively strong, ultimately falling to Louisville in the conference tournament.

The key for Syracuse will be to contain Griffin, while not neglecting Willie Warren. It's a tough task, but it's been done, mainly through forcing and converting turnovers and high-energy play.

Oklahoma State knocked Oklahoma out of the Big 12 Tournament with a one-point upset that probably cost Oklahoma a No. 1 seed. Although that game came down to the wire, Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said that it wasn't won or lost in the final minutes, but rather through 19 turnovers, the inability to make shots, and a lack of movement on offense. "We were very, very stagnant," he said.

Missouri also shut down the Sooners in a late-season game, forcing 22 turnovers and holding them to a season low in points.

"One of the things we talked about was not turning the ball over and not allowing them to speed us up," Capel said after that game. "We didn't do a good job of either one of those."