FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. | The University of Alabama in Huntsville is set to open play at the 2022 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball South Regional on Saturday, as the seventh-seeded Chargers will face No. 2 seed Barry at the Rick Case Arena on the campus of host Nova Southeastern. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. CT.
 
Saturday's game will mark UAH's 14th NCAA tournament opener, and it is the fourth straight season the Chargers have reached the national postseason.
 
UAH (22-10) enters the event playing its best basketball of the season after extending its winning streak to seven games after knocking off three of its opponents in the Gulf South Conference tournament by double-digit margins of victory, including the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds.
 
The championship was UAH's fifth overall and fourth since 2015.
 
Four different Chargers are scoring in double figures including all-region performer Chaney Johnson who is scoring 16.9 points per game and GSC tournament Most Outstanding Player CJ Williamson who is averaging 16.7 points per outing. Luke Burnett, who is sixth in the nation in total 3-pointers with 99, owns a scoring mark of 13.1 points per contest, and Max Shulman is scoring at a 10.5 points per game clip.
 
For good measure, Shulman and Williamson rank 11th and 14th, respectively, in the country in total steals, and the Chargers are seventh in all of Division II with 10.0 steals per contest.
 
UAH will need a strong defensive effort against Barry (20-8) who is fifth in the country with 89.9 points per game. 
 
The Bucs are led by Jake Kakar who is scoring 14.3 points per contest, while Justinas Marcinkevicius is shooting 61.1 percent to average 10.6 points to go along with a team-best 8.6 rebounds per game. 
 
Saturday's opponent finished third in the Sunshine State Conference behind fellow NCAA tournament participants Nova Southeastern and Embry-Riddle, and they reached the final of the SSC tournament where they fell to NSU.
 
This will be the third time the two programs have met in the NCAA tournament and the first outside of Huntsville as the previous meetings came at regionals hosted by UAH. In 2017, Barry defeated the Chargers 87-83 in the championship contest, but UAH turned around and earned some revenge in 2017 when it won 96-82 in the semifinals.
 
The winner of Saturday's game will take on the winner of No. 3 seed Embry-Riddle and No. 6 seed West Alabama on Sunday at 4 p.m. CT.