Today at Dallas

TODAY AT DALLAS

Xavier vs. Oklahoma: Coach Kelvin Sampson didn’t want the Sooners to forget anything about their first-round loss to Indiana State last year, so he showed them lowlights from that game before the Big 12 tournament. Oklahoma hasn’t lost since, upsetting Kansas in the Big 12 final and beating a chippy Illinois Chicago team in the first round. Xavier had to scramble to make it to the second round after falling behind by 12 in the first half against Hawaii. But the seventh-seeded Musketeers roared back to win, 70-58. Guard Romain Sato was one of Xavier’s stars against Hawaii, with an 18-point, 10-rebound game. But the battle in the second-round game could be inside, between David West, Xavier’s 6-foot-8 power forward, and Aaron McGhee, the 6-8 power forward for Oklahoma who has been impressive late in the season and had 26 points and 12 rebounds in the first-round game. If second-seeded Oklahoma advances to San Jose, it will be the Sooners’ second trip in four years. (They went with a team that included Eduardo Najera in 1999.) That would dispel a lot of the complaints about Sampson’s frequent first-round exits. Xavier reached the Sweet 16 in 1990.

Robyn Norwood