National postseason tournaments give teams the opportunity to play against opponents from all over the country, pitting name-brand schools against small-town schools, highlight-reel favorites against unsung heroes.

Not surprisingly, the unknowns can easily outweigh the scouting report on strengths, styles and go-to scorers.

But even though the Cal men's basketball team didn't face New Mexico this season, it feels it learned quite a bit about its upcoming opponent in two conference games against an eerily similar team-Oregon.

When the fourth-seeded Bears take the court at Haas Pavilion tonight at 8 p.m. in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament, they will meet a fifth-seeded Lobos team that plays-and shoots-like the Ducks.

New Mexico leads the country in three-point shooting percentage at just over 42 percent, spearheaded by 6-foot-7 junior Chad Toppert's career mark of 43.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Cal is taking notice.

"It's a pretty amazing stat when your team can shoot 42 percent from three," coach Ben Braun said. "That's gonna be a challenge for us-to get out on their three-point shooters. And if you get out on their shooters-very similar to Oregon-they have the ability to beat you off the dribble."

It's a challenge the Bears (16-15) seem to know all too well.

Last week, UCLA eliminated the Bears from the Pac-10 tournament with 14 three-pointers at a rate of 56 percent.

On Feb. 9, Oregon torched Cal from long range, shooting an unbelievable 80 percent from long distance in the second half and knocking down 18 treys in a 92-70 victory.

And the Lobos (24-8) can deliver the daggers just as dangerously as the Ducks.

"I definitely see the similarity because of how well they shoot the ball," Bears forward Jamal Boykin said. "And they're a fast team. They have four guys on the court who can shoot and who have guard skills."

New Mexico, which has won eight of its last 10 games, also boasts Kansas transfer J.R. Giddens, a versatile senior who led the Mountain West Conference with 18.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. But Giddens, who will likely be guarded by sophomore Patrick Christopher, is only one player on a team with many options.

"He's very explosive," Braun said. "He rebounds, he gets to the rim, he creates openings for his team, he can post you up and he knocks down shots.

"But you can't really lock down on one guy, even as good as Giddens is. (If) you ignore the other guys, they knock down shots."

If the Bears defeat the Lobos, it will face Ohio State, the tournament's top seed.

Win or lose, the game is likely the Bears' last at home, where they finished the conference schedule with a loss to Washington despite 20 points from forward Eric Vierneisel and 18 from fellow senior DeVon Hardin.

"It's good for the seniors," Boykin said. "We definitely don't want to lose our last home game. It's a second opportunity to win our last home game."

And the seniors aren't the only players who can benefit from competing in March. With such a young roster, Cal will take any playoff opportunity it can get.

"If you look around the field of the NIT-my goodness-there's some good basketball teams," Braun said. "It's becoming tougher to get postseason experience. It's not a given. It's not a right. So any time your team can play in the postseason and play a high-caliber team … that can only help our team."

Tags: NIT