Get ready for Lincoln Memorial at the NCAA Men's Basketball Elite 8!!! (video)

March 21, 2016

Story Courtesy of LMU Media Relations

FRISCO, Texas -- The top-seeded and No. 1 nationally-ranked Railsplitters (32-2) are set for an NCAA Division II Elite Eight showdown against the eight-seeded and No. 19 Barry Buccaneers (26-6) at 1 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. The winner of that contest advances to the Final Four to face the winner of West Liberty and Stonehill at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Lincoln Memorial booked its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight last Tuesday night with a wire-to-wire 103-80 victory over the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears in the Southeast Regional championship at Tex Turner Arena. Jalen Steele (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored a game-high 27 points, while Emanuel Terry (Enterprise, Ala.) tallied a career-high 24 points with 12 rebounds and five blocks. Gerel Simmons (Accokeek, Md.) added 19 points, as Steele, Terry and Simmons were each named to the Southeast Regional All-Tournament team at the conclusion of the game.

Tuesday's victory was one of the most emotional in program history, ending a streak of five straight early NCAA tournament exits and giving the Railsplitters their longest postseason run since the 1976-77 team finished fourth in the NAIA national tournament. But now Lincoln Memorial must turn the page and direct its attention back to finishing the task at hand of competing for the ultimate prize: a national championship.

"It takes an incredible amount of mental toughness to move past what happened on Tuesday," LMU head coach Josh Schertz said. "But some team is going to do that and win three games against other really good teams."

The first stepping stone on the Railsplitters' path to Saturday's National Championship game, the 19th-ranked Barry Buccaneers are also preparing to make their first-ever Elite Eight appearance after overcoming a 12-point second-half deficit to defeat No. 12 Alabama-Huntsville in the South Region championship. The Bucs beat Union and Rollins to reach the Sweet 16.

The Sunshine State Conference regular-season co-champions and SSC tournament runners-up, Barry is one of the most prolific scoring teams in the nation, ranking fourth in the country in points per game with 92.9. The Bucs accumulate their offensive numbers efficiently, too, shooting 48 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from behind the three-point arc.

"Barry is probably the best offensive team we've seen all year," Schertz said. "They score it extremely well from every spot on the floor and they bring in multiple guys off the bench that can score. They've got talent with a lot of returners that understand how to play together."

Six different players are averaging double figures for the Buccaneers, and all but one of those six is a Division I transfer, which is a stark contrast when compared with Lincoln Memorial, who has had just three Division I transfers in Schertz's eight seasons at the helm.

Barry is led by CCA All-American second team honoree Yunio Barrueta, who is averaging a near double-double with 24.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. The East Tennessee State transfer is one of the more versatile players in the nation with 103 made three-pointers on a 44.2 percent clip to go along with a 50.9 percent mark from the field. An exceptional athlete, Barrueta won the Dark Horse Dunker competition and will compete in the College Slam Dunk Contest on March 31.

"Barrueta is obviously one of the elite players in the country," Schertz said. "He's a unique matchup in that he's an elite three-point shooter and an elite post player. He gives Barry tremendous versatility."

Point guard Elvar Fridriksson - a LIU-Brooklyn transfer - runs the show for the Buccaneers, as the Iceland native leads the country in total assists (262) and assists per game (8.2), which he couples with 10.9 points per game.

Along with the Barrueta-Fridriksson duo, Anders Haas is putting up 12.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, 6-9 forward Tray Leonard is accounting for 11.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and Adrian Gonzalez is pitching in 11.7 points per game. Undra Mitchem, meanwhile, is filling up the stat sheet with 10.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

While Barry is a terrific offensive team, the Bucs give up points in bunches on the other end of the floor. Barry is ranked last among the teams left standing in scoring defense by allowing 81.1 points per game on 45 percent shooting. The Bucs relinquish 35 percent shooting from three-point range.

Wednesday marks the first-ever meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Barry.

Lincoln Memorial's bout with Barry will be the first game of the Elite Eight, tipping off at noon central time and 1 p.m. eastern time. It will be the earliest start time for the Railsplitters since they hosted Anderson on the CBS Sports Network at noon eastern time on January 12, 2013. Schertz noted that the early start time, while not to his liking, could be a blessing in disguise.

"Obviously it's not ideal to play the first game of the tournament, but I also think it can be beneficial to not sit around all day waiting to play," Schertz said. "We will wake up Wednesday and it will be game time. But for us we have had such a long preparation time that the hay is in the barn by Tuesday. I think both teams will be ready to play in game like this with the stakes as high as they are."

Leading up to the biggest game in the program's more than 100-year history, Schertz wants his players to maintain the course that has brought them to Frisco, playing free and easy with confidence.

"We talked about coming out here with two goals: to compete and to have fun," Schertz said. "And that's really what we've tried to do all year. We want our guys playing fast, loose and disciplined, because that's when we are at our best."

It's been a rollercoaster journey since the Railsplitters clinched their spot in the Elite Eight last week. A number of players took their first flight when Lincoln Memorial departed Knoxville on Sunday night en route to Dallas and its suburb Frisco. The Railsplitters and the other seven teams in the field were treated to a banquet on Monday night, and the media circuit resumes on Tuesday with the pre-tournament press conference. But as Schertz notes, once the ball is tipped up on Wednesday, the focus will once again shift to basketball and the quest to win a national championship.

"When you get past all the pomp and circumstance of everything that goes into this and the ball goes up on Wednesday, everything will just go back to normal," Schertz said. "But you have to get to that point and the best way to get to that point is to not get caught up in the hoopla and all the stuff that surrounds these games.

"We want the guys to have a great experience and take this with them for the rest of their lives. But we also came here thinking that we have a chance to win three games in four days and win a national championship. You don't know how many of these opportunities you'll get in your life. But everything is pointing towards us giving our best effort on Wednesday and that's all you can ask for this time of year."

The Railsplitters tip off against Barry in the Elite Eight on Wednesday at 1 p.m. (ET) at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. Live stat, video and audio links are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.