KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A conference foe awaits the Eagles with higher stakes than ever in Kansas City as the No. 4 seed takes on the No. 1 seed Loyola Thursday in the National Round of 16 at 3 p.m. The task to knock off the top-remaining seed is always a tall one, but if anyone can beat the 33-1 Wolf Pack, it's the team that gave them the right-side blemish, 26-6 Faulkner.

The meeting will be the third of the season, and based off the first two meetings, it's anyone's game to win. Faulkner handed Loyola its lone loss of the season in Tine Davis Gymnasium January 17 92-73, pouring in more points against the Wolf Pack than anyone else this season while limiting the visitors to their second-lowest scoring output of the year in the program's first upset over the No. 1 team in the country. However, a few weeks later when Faulkner returned the trip to New Orleans, the Wolf Pack ran wild in a 121-69 victory to exact some revenge. 

A handful of things jump out when you look at the box scores for two games to see what, statistically, caused the nearly 70 point difference between the results. At home, Faulkner shot 54.2 percent from the field while holding the then top-ranked team to a 35.6 percent clip. On the road, the Wolf Pack outshot the Eagles by 10 percent from the floor as the deep ball connected 15 times for the hosts to just nine for Faulkner. Another massive stat difference was in the ball control category. Faulkner turned the ball over 27 times on the road leading to 47 Wolf Pack points while at home 14 turnovers turned into 16 points for the top-ranked Loyola. 

Another big difference between the games is the appearance of Myles Burns for Loyola. While a lot of the attention, and rightfully so, gets turned to potential NAIA National Player of the Year Zach Wrightsil, Burns is another guy who could see his name on the first team All-American list after the season ends. Burns missed the contest in Montgomery and more than made up for it in New Orleans, falling one rebound shy of a triple double with 21 points, 10 steals and six assists. Wrightsil carries an average of 18.7 points and 8.7 rebounds a game and was named the SSAC Player of the Year.

Faulkner's guard production and ball protection could be the difference in the game. The dynamic duo of C.J. Hines and Jalon Perry scored 94 of the team's 165 points in the Opening Round, accounting for 57 percent of the scoring. The Eagles may need some depth against the Wolf Pack who have nine players averaging 10 or more minutes per game this season. Faulkner found just three points off the bench in its two Opening Round contests, conversely the Wolf Pack dropped 54 from its sixth man and beyond in its wins over BenU-Mesa and Florida College in the Opening Round.

The winner of the contest will play Saturday at 11 a.m. against either No. 3 College of Idaho or No. 2 Grace (Ind.) in the quarterfinals.

The game will be broadcast by the NAIA in a PPV format. There will be a watch party in the Cinema Room of the Multiplex for those still on campus who would like to watch.