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A first-four victory over Wyoming has 12-seed Indiana pitted against 5-seed Saint Mary's in what will likely be a low-scoring matchup.

The Gaels are led by longtime coach Randy Bennett, who has been at Saint Mary's since 2001. Bennett has taken the team to the NCAA Tournament eight times including this season but has only made it to the sweet 16 one season.

Stylistically, this squad can be compared to a mid-2000s Bo Ryan Wisconsin team. They are 338th in the country in pace and make life difficult for opponents by limiting transition opportunities and forcing them to play in the halfcourt.

Saint Mary's ranks 12th in scoring defense among all teams, allowing just 60.5 points per game. On offense, they make the most of their few possessions with solid efficiency. They shoot 35.0% from three and 46.3% overall.

All players from last year's Saint Mary's roster returned for this season. The veteran core is led by the 6-10 Matthias Tass (12.6 ppg) and point guard Tommy Khuse (12.0 ppg). While no player on the roster averages more than 12.6 points per game, four players average over 10 points per game.

Khuse leads the team in assists with 3.6 per game and is crafty around the rim with floaters. He is also a lethal three-point shooter at 46.9%, albeit on low volume (3.0 attempts per game).

Logan Johnson is a senior guard who plays the most minutes on the team (31.4 mpg) and shot attempts per game with 10.1. While not a very efficient scorer, Johnson chimes in with 11.5 points per contest -- third on the team. He was a second-team All-WCC selection.

Another second-team All-WCC player is Alex Ducas, who scores 10.2 points per game and shoots 38.6% from deep. Ducas launches from beyond the arc more than any of his peers, shooting 4.9 threes per game.

Kyle Bowan has started all 32 games for Saint Mary's and provides a combination of great size and shooting. Bowan stands at 6-8 and 39.2% of his threes, although he only averages 5.9 points per game.

The only two players who play more than 10 minutes off the bench are Augustas Marciulionis (3.3 ppg) and Dan Fotu (6.5 ppg). Marciulionis is the sole freshman in the rotation and has started 15 games this season. Jabe Mullins (3.0 ppg) and backup big man Mitchell Saxen (3.3 ppg) are also sprinkled in the rotation.

G- Tommy Kuhse (Sr; 6-2; 185)

Season Stats: 12.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.6 apg

G - Logan Johnson (Sr; 6-2; 170)

Season Stats: 11.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.6 apg

G - Alex Ducas (Jr; 6-6; 215)

Season Stats: 10.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg

F - Kyle Bowan (Jr; 6-8; 225)

Season Stats: 5.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg

F - Matthias Tass (Sr; 6-10; 245)

Season Stats: 12.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.0 apg

Can the Hoosiers beat Saint Mary's at their own game? Both teams are elite defensively but differ stylistically. Indiana wants to get out and run as they are among the best teams in the country in transition situations while the Gaels play a very slow tempo.

It is unlikely the Hosiers will get many transition opportunities in this one, so they will likely need to beat Saint Mary's in the halfcourt. I wouldn't worry about Indiana's defense -- that part should hold up. However, the offense may struggle to play at a snail's pace, and it will be hard to try and speed the game up against a team so conditioned to take it slow.

Indiana does not have the capacity for a mediocre Xavier Johnson performance like they got against Wyoming. He shot just 3-of-12 from the field, and even though he dished out seven assists, he left a lot of points on the table with all those misses.

Johnson needs to be his usual self in the pick and roll and take advantage of shots at the rim. They were able to win ugly against Wyoming but to beat Saint Mary's they will need to be stout on defense and surgical on offense.

Who: Indiana (21-13) vs. Saint Mary's (25-7)

When: Thursday, March 17th, 7:20 p.m. ET

Where: Portland, OR

TV: TBS

Radio: IU Radio Network with Don Fischer, Errek Suhr and Joe Smith

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QUICK HITTERS

• Indiana is 1-0 all-time against Saint Mary's with their sole meeting coming in 1957

• Saint Mary's is 12th in the NCAA in scoring defense at 60.5 points allowed per game

• Saint Mary's ranks 338th in the country in tempo with just 63.5 possessions per game

• Saint Mary's returned 100% of the total minutes played from a season ago

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