By Jeff Arnold
Games:
#1-Duke vs. #16-Robert Morris
#8-San Diego State University vs. #9-Saint John’s
#5-Utah vs. #12-Stephen F. Austin
#4-Georgetown vs. #13-Eastern Washington
#6-SMU vs. #11-UCLA
#3-Iowa State vs. #14-UAB
#7-Iowa vs. #10-Davidson
#2-Gonzaga vs. #15-North Dakota State
Three Games to Watch:
#5-Utah vs. #12-Stephen F. Austin
Last season Stephen F. Austin pulled off a fantastic upset over VCU, this season they have returned to the tournament and find themselves as a #12 seed again. Much like last season’s team, the Jacks are offensive minded and average 79.5 points per game. They struggle defensively at time, lacking size, however they finished the season strong by winning eleven of their last twelve. Thomas Walkup, a junior guard, leads the team in scoring while also ranking highly in rebounding and assists. Utah enters this game on the opposite end of the spectrum. After getting off to a hot 17-4 start, the Utes have struggled as of late dropping four of their last seven. Delon Wright, a senior guard, leads the team as a scorer and floor general averaging 14.9 points per game and 5.3 assists. Utah is an efficient offensive team, shooting just under 50% from the field, while also having a knack for stifling opponents on the defensive end giving up only 56.9 point per game. Utah should by all accounts win this game, but the 5/12 line is dangerous and SFA is one of the hottest teams in the tournament. The ‘Jacks win this one and move on to play Georgetown.
#6-SMU vs. #11-UCLA
Larry Brown and the SMU Mustangs, snubbed from a bid last season, did not leave their fate in the Section Committees’ hands this season as they won the American Athletic Conference Championship and an automatic bid into the tournament. The Mustangs are one of the most fun teams to watch in the country as senior, Yanick Moreira, and redshirt junior, Markus Kennedy, tend to have their way inside while guard Nic Moore facilitates and shoots from the outside. SMU comes in on a hot streak winning ten of their last twelve. UCLA, led by freshman forward Kevon Looney, should present an interesting match up for Moreira and Kennedy because of his ability to rebound and score form the inside. Although one of the last teams in the field, the Bruins could prove to be a tough out as they are an extremely good outside shooting team. Their one downfall, which is a fairly big one, is that they struggle on the defensive end, letting up almost 70 point per game. UCLA will give SMU a run in this one, but in the end, the tandem of Moreira and Kennedy will prove to be too much and the Mustangs will advance.
#3-Iowa State vs. #14-UAB
Fred Hoiberg and Iowa State are a team to fear in March. The back-to-back Big 12 tournament champs appear to be peaking at the right time, winning their last five. Three of those wins were against ranked teams, including #2 seed in the Midwest, Kansas. Georges Niang, a junior from Methuen, is a force underneath while sophomore point guard Monte Morris is one of the best true point guards in the NCAA. UAB is a program of potential with a majority of their rotation players being underclassmen. Being this young, it will be interesting to see how they respond to tournament pressure. Statistically, they are actually a better defensive team than Iowa State, however blowout losses to UNC and Wisconsin negate this stat. I don’t think this game will be very close, the Cyclones are a much better team, but this is still a game to watch because of the potential they have to make a deep run.
Other Storylines:
Georgetown’s Seeding: How Georgetown got a top four seed is a mystery. They have the worst record of all the four seeds, lost twice to Providence, a #6 seed, in the regular season, and were beat in the Big East Tournament semifinals by another #6 seed in Xavier. For the most part this was a pretty well constructed bracket; however, the favortism shown towards the Big East is frustrating to say the least.
Duke’s Early Round Struggles: Despite having some of the best talent in college basketball, and hands-down the best coach, Duke has struggled to make noise in March in the past few years. Since winning the 2010 National Championship, the Blue Devils have not made a Final Four and, in two of the last three years, have lost their opening round games.
Iowa’s Adam Woodbury: The dirtiest player in college basketball is ready to make his mark in the tournament. After blatantly going for eye pokes while on defense, ESPN’s Dan Dakich had had enough and called out Woodbury for clearly trying to hurt opposing players. Although Iowa coach, Fran McCaffery, criticized Dakich for his disparaging remarks, almost everyone in the sport agrees: Woodbury is dirty.
Picks (winner in bold):
#1-Duke vs. #16-Robert Morris
#8-San Diego State University vs. #9-Saint John’s
#5-Utah vs. #12-Stephen F. Austin
#4-Georgetown vs. #13-Eastern Washington
#6-SMU vs. #11-UCLA
#3-Iowa State vs. #14-UAB
#7-Iowa vs. #10-Davidson
#2-Gonzaga vs. #15-North Dakota State
