When Oklahoma beat Albany 69-60 on Friday night, coach Lon Kruger became the first coach in NCAA history to win an NCAA tournament game at five different schools.
It took Kruger a little longer to set the record than he would have liked. The Sooners lost in the first round of the tournament the past two years to North Dakota State (2014) and San Diego State (2013). While Albany kept it close throughout, the third-seeded Sooners were never really in trouble against the No. 14 seed.
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Kruger previously led Kansas State, Florida, Illinois and UNLV to NCAA tournament wins in a head coaching career now in its 28th season. Kruger has taken each of those five teams to at least two NCAA appearances and he has taken four of them to the tournament three times.
Despite his success getting to the tournament, like many coaches, he has found it difficult to win. The victory Friday brought him back to .500 in his career in the tournament at 15-15. He improved to 9-7 in first-round games.
The Sooners are one win away from the Sweet 16. Kruger has coached three programs to the Sweet 16. He is one of five coaches to do it. The others are Rick Pitino. John Calipari, Tubby Smith and Bill Sefl. Oklahoma will play either Dayton or Providence on Sunday in the East Regional.
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
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