By Ben Walker
The Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Just the mere mention of Jameer Nelson's enormous tattoo brings a bright smile from John Lucas.

"Yep ... 'All Eyes on Me,' " the Oklahoma State guard said. "I think it's great. That's how he feels. He plays that way, and he lives up to it."

Lucas will get his chance to see Nelson up close when he leads the second-seeded Cowboys against Saint Joseph's in the regional final.

"Tomorrow night, maybe all eyes will be on me," Lucas said Friday. "This is the moment I've been hoping for and praying for my whole life."

In Nelson and Delonte West, the top-seeded Hawks have what many consider the best backcourt in the nation. Lucas and Tony Allen are pretty talented, too, and intend to prove it tonight with a trip to the Final Four at stake.

Lucas, son of the former NBA star by the same name, admits he has seen a lot of Nelson this season. So have a lot of people - Nelson was a unanimous All-America pick.

"I like what he does," Lucas said. "He's a terrific player. I take a little of what he does off him for my game."

Naturally, Lucas noticed the tattoo that stretches in big letters across Nelson's upper back, from shoulder to shoulder. Nelson got it last summer to go along with a smaller one reading "No Fear" on his right arm.

Nelson brings his dizzying array of drives, spins and clever shots into a matchup that Saint Joseph's (30-1) sees as speed vs. strength. Coach Phil Martelli described Oklahoma State's bulky front players as looking "like linemen."

As for suggestions that the guard tandems will decide it, Allen disagrees. He's not being ornery, either - like Lucas, he stuck around to see some of the Hawks' 84-80 win over Wake Forest Thursday night and was duly impressed.

"I think it's all about buckets," Allen said. "The game ain't going to be judged on quickness."

Nelson pushes the Hawks at both ends of the court. He and West open up a lot of 3-point tries - Saint Joseph's takes 24 treys per game, twice as many as Oklahoma State (30-3).

"From Day 1, I had the green light to do whatever I wanted to do," Nelson said.

Nelson has scored 81 points in three NCAA Tournament games this March while West has added 57. Their improvised style is a lot different than the one employed by Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton.

Martelli said he got only one hour of sleep after the Hawks' latest win, instead staying up most of the night and morning to study tape of the Cowboys. He said he jotted down 40 pages of their plays.

"They run a play every time down the court," Martelli said.

As of Friday afternoon, Sutton said he had not decided how he'd guard the Hawks. Allen is the Cowboys' best defender and leads the team with a 16-point average.

The Cowboys intend to pound the ball inside and aggressively defend the 3-point line in trying to earn their first Final Four appearance since 1995, when they also won the regional at East Rutherford. The Hawks' only trip to the Final Four came in 1961.

Saint Joseph's and Oklahoma State have never met in basketball - at least, not officially. Before changing its name to Oklahoma State in 1957, the school was known as Oklahoma A&M. As the Aggies, and later the Cowboys, they went 3-2 against the Hawks in the 1940s, with every game in Philadelphia.

No. 1 Saint Joseph's vs. No. 2 Oklahoma State

Time: 7:05 p.m.

TV: 12, 7.

Records: Saint Joseph's 30-1, Oklahoma State 30-3.

How they got here: St. Joe's d. No. 16 Liberty 82-63, d. No. 8 Texas Tech 70-65, d. No. 4 Wake Forest 84-80; Oklahoma State d. No. 15 Eastern Washington 75-56, d. No. 7 Memphis 70-53, d. No. 3 Pittsburgh 63-51.

What to watch: Saint Joe's offense gets a lot of ink, as does Oklahoma State's defense. But consider this: In the regular season, Oklahoma State had better offensive numbers than Saint Joe's, and Saint Joe's had better defensive numbers than Oklahoma State. Each team has a premier point guard (the Hawks' Jameer Nelson, the Cowboys' John Lucas) and an excellent off-guard (the Hawks' Delonte West, the Cowboys' Tony Allen). Each has nice complementary talent on the wings and off the bench. Each has good quickness. Each can apply stifling defensive pressure. Each has big guys who can run. Each is proficient from 3-point range. Each can be devastating in transition. But Oklahoma State is more physical and looks to have a bit more toughness. Can the Hawks stand up to the Cowboys' physical nature? West is a better shooter than Allen, but West may be thrown off by how the Cowboys will try to put him through a grinder.

Key to the game: Saint Joe's has had a storybook season, but the Hawks' detractors say the lack of frontcourt scoring and an overall lack of size eventually will catch up to them. Well, Oklahoma State is in much the same boat. The Cowboys don't rely on anybody bigger than 6 feet 8, and their power forward weighs 217 pounds. In short, this could be a masterpiece - as long as the Hawks can stand up to the physical Cowboys.

Projected winner: Saint Joe's.

Line: Oklahoma State by 2 1/2.

Today's matchup

	SJU	OSU
Record	30-1	30-3
Avg. Pts.	77.9	77.8
Opp. Avg. Pts.	62.1	62.4
Margin	15.7	15.4
FG Pct.	.478	.516
Opp. FG Pct.	.401	.409
3-Pt. FG Pct.	.407	.386
Opp. 3-Pt. FG Pct.	.281	.309
3-Pt. FG-Game	9.8	4.8
Opp. 3-Pt. FG-Game	4.5	5.1
FT Pct.	.701	.696
Rebound Margin	-3.3	+4.9
TO Diff.	+4.8	+2.1
Avg. Steals	9.1	8.1
Avg. Blocks	3.5	3.7