March 13, 2007

• With the win, Niagara advances as the No. 16 seed in the West Region. The Purple Eagles will face top-seeded Kansas on Friday in Chicago. Tipoff is scheduled for approximately 6:10 p.m. local time (Central Time Zone).

• Tonight's attendance was 8,257. It is the second largest crowd to watch a NCAA Opening Round Game at UD Arena. The only bigger crowd was the 2002 event with 8,681 fans (Siena beat Alcorn State, 81-77). The third largest crowd was in 2005 when 8,254 fans saw Oakland beat Alabama A&M, 79-69.

• Since the NCAA Opening Round Game resumed in 2001, over 55 thousand fans have come to UD Arena for the seven events combined for an average attendance of 7,898 fans per year. The game has had an attendance of at least 7,700 in all but the first game in 2001 (6,813 fans).

• Under the current format of the NCAA Opening Round Game the average margin of victory has been 11.42 points. The closest margin was four points in the 2001 and 2002 events. Northwestern State beat Winthrop, 71-67 in 2001 while Siena defeated Alcorn State, 81-77 in 2002.

• Florida A&M is the first ever team to make a repeat appearance in the NCAA Opening Round Game since its renewal in 2001. The Rattlers also played at UD Arena in the 2004 event, which was also their last NCAA Tournament appearance. FAMU beat Lehigh 72-57 before falling to top-seeded Kentucky, 96-76 in the NCAA First Round.

• Niagara is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance and second in the last three years. The Purple Eagles also appeared in the 2005 NCAA First Round. NU lost to third-seeded Oklahoma 84-67 in that game. Current seniors Lorenzo Miles and J.R. Duffey as well as junior Stanley Hodge are the only Purple Eagles to appear in that games. Miles scored 12 points as dished out a game-high six assists. Duffey had seven points while Hodge saw one minutes of action.

• With its 2007 berth, Niagara became the first team from Western New York since the St. Bonaventure clubs of 1968 and 1970 to earn NCAA berths twice in three years.

• Niagara's Clif Brown led all players with 32 points. It was his second 30-point game this season and the sixth time with at least 20-point game of the season. It was his first since scoring 27 against Iona on Jan. 20 (12 games).

• NU's Clif Brown tied the NCAA Opening Round record with six made three-point field goals. Chris Kenny of Monmouth also made six treys against Hampton on March 14, 2006. The mark was also a career-high for Brown.