HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- If there's one thing Barry and Eckerd know is each other.

The 19th-ranked Buccaneers and Tritons will meet for the third time this season when they open the NCAA Division II Tournament 9 p.m. ET Saturday at Alabama-Huntsville. 

Barry (22-6) beat Eckerd (21-8) twice to claim the head-to-head tiebreaker that decided the Sunshine State Conference regular season champion. Both had 13-5 league records. All of that matters little anymore as the beginning of postseason play evens the records back at 0-0.

"It's really hard to beat a good team three times," Bucs junior center Kenan Guzonjic said. "But I think we have a lot of weapons. We know them, we played them twice."

Both teams know each other's tendencies. They know they probably would rather play someone else. And they know that the NCAA Tournament means something bigger. But what does that mean when the game rolls around?

"These guys, being here before, I mean, I think they know the process and what it takes to get ready for these games," first-year Buccaneer Sawyer Glick said after putting together a season in which he's averaged 11.3 points, while shooting 42.9 percent from three-point range. "I think they've done a pretty good job so far. I think I'm ready, and I think I can speak for most people on the team."

Both the Bucs and Tritons advanced to the South Regional at Huntsville for a second consecutive season. Eckerd lost its first round game a year ago. Barry went on to win the region title. A new year means a new agenda -- something every postseason team has at this point. Where the journey goes from here boils down to a will to win.

"The reason I came to Barry was because I knew how good this team was going to be," said Guzonjic, a transfer from the University of Colorado who's put up roughly eight points and six rebounds per game, while notching a pair of double-doubles. "Talking to (head coach) Butch (Estes), talking to (assistant coach Justin) Furr, through them I learned how good this team (could be). That's the biggest reason why I came here because I knew how good these guys are, and how much we can accomplish."

The journey starts now.

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