Who will establish tempo, and which players will execute? Kentucky averages almost 79 a game while allowing 60. West Virginia goes for almost 73 and keeps opponents to 63. Thursday night, they held Washington to 24 points under their average.
Thursday night, Butler held a Syracuse team that averaged over 81 a game to 59. For that trend to continue, the Bulldogs will need to keep K-State off the glass. The Wildcats grabbed 15 offensive rebounds in their thriller over Xavier.
Duke averages over 77 points a game. The Blue Devil front court holds a +6 rebounding margin, including 14 and a half offensive rebounds a game. The emergence of Brian Zoubek and freshman Mason Plumlee gives Duke a well-rounded attack. Zoubek grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 14 points in Duke’s victory over California.
Butler scores almost 70 a game while limiting opponents under 60. Syracuse scores over 81. Their opponents get less than 66.
K-State got the better of Xavier earlier this season. That was then. This is now, and this game is on neutral court. The Wildcats out-rebounded Xavier 39-30 in the win. McLean played 17 minutes and Taylor logged four.
The two coaches faced each other seven times in Conference USA when Romar led St. Louis and Huggins roamed the sidelines for Cincinnati. Huggins holds a 5-2 advantage, but Romar’s Billikens knocked off then No.1 Cincy to win the C-USA tournament and grab the automatic bid.
It really doesn’t matter. With one shot, Ali Farokhmanesh put himself into history. Yeah, it was his fourth trifecta of the night. Of course, he was 0-4 up to that point in the second half, but, hey, shooters shoot. And shoot is what “Farook” did. Clinging to a one-point lead and too much time on the clock..
Two teams in mirror image of each other. Senior shooting guards contribute glue-like play-making attributes. Matt Bouldin (Gonzaga) and Andy Rautins (Syracuse) are one in the same. Bouldin scores 15 and assists on four a game. Rautins scores almost 12 and assists on five…
Which takes us to the third round. Kansas could have a date with either Maryland or Michigan State. Both of these teams have the ability to slow down Kansas. They also have players unafraid to step up in the clutch – Greivis Vasquez and Kalin Lucas to start with.
Notre Dame and anyone is intriguing. Notre Dame and Richmond? Wow! The Irish have learned to play with patience of late. Richmond forces teams to play uncomfortably patient basketball. Tory Jackson versus Kevin Anderson?