No. 11 St. Joseph's (21-12) vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (22-11) 7:10 pm EDT BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Ticker) -- Prior to the start of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli gave his team an ultimatum - run the table or go home.

The motivational ploy worked.

St. Joseph's reached the Atlantic 10 Conference championship game before losing to city rival Temple. That was enough for the Hawks to receive one of the final at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament.

St. Joseph's got a No. 11 seed and will take on No. 6 Oklahoma (22-11) on Friday in an East Region first-round game.

The Hawks (21-12) are making their first tournament appearance since their magical run in 2004, when the Jameer Nelson-led team finished unbeaten in the regular season and reached the Elite Eight.

"It's been my dream forever to play in the tournament, and my senior year I finally got it," St. Joseph's forward Pat Calathes told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It was our goal to make the tourney, but we want to finish up with more than just this.

We'd definitely like to win some games." While St. Joseph's doesn't have anyone as talented as Nelson, it could be a difficult out. The Hawks like to play harassing defense and will aim to exploit Oklahoma's inconsistent backcourt tandem of Austin Johnson and David Godbold, who combine to score less than 16 points per game.

St. Joseph's beat Xavier twice in two weeks, including a 61-53 win in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament when the Musketeers were held to their lowest point total of the season.

Still, the Hawks will have to contend with Oklahoma freshman forward Blake Griffin, a banger inside who gets overlooked because he plays in the same conference as Kansas State's Michael Beasley.

The winner of Friday's contest takes on the Louisville-Boise State winner in the second round on Sunday.