The men's Sweet 16 action from the South Regional in San Antonio and the West Regional in San Francisco will continue what has been a captivating 2022.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders will try to prevent another tune from being played in Coach K's last dance, and the Duke Blue Devil will be among the most prominent storylines. The top two seeds in the tournament, Arizona and Gonzaga, will have to contend with a pair of formidable opponents in Houston and Arkansas.
The true Cinderella Saint Peter's Peacocks won't play until Friday, but they will have a double-digit seed in the Sweet 16. After an up-and-down regular season, the Michigan Wolverines have turned it on in March and will attempt to get back to the Elite Eight.
Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello, John Gasaway and Joe Lunardi were part of the panel that helped set up the four games.
You can check your March Madness brackets by following this link.
The March Madness schedule is on Thursday.
The Razorbacks are playing the #1 team in the country, the Gonzaga. The program is on CBS.
The Michigan vs. the Villanova game will be played on July 2nd. The time is at 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846
Texas Tech is playing Duke in a basketball game. The program is on CBS.
No. 5 Houston is playing No. 1 Arizona. The item was listed on the TBRS.
I had Texas Tech beating Duke before the NCAA tournament, but I haven't seen anything through two rounds that would make me change my mind.
There are a few ways to beat Duke. Crowd the paint and make the Blue Devil's offense one-dimensional. They can shoot from the perimeter, but they prefer to drive to the rim. Spread the floor and force Mark Williams away from the rim. Don't let Duke get live-ball turnovers and easy transition baskets and take care of the ball. The Red Raiders are as good as any team in the country at keeping opponents out of the paint and their top six players are all capable of shooting from 3. They have done a better job of taking care of the ball in the NCAA tournament, coughing it up 20 times in two games.
The Michigan State squad faced Duke in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament in the year, but the Duke team was more talented. The Michigan State squad had a bunch of grown men who were not interested in the NBA buzz around that team. You look at the roster again, and you don't see any future NBA stars. One of Mike Krzyzewski's most impressive teams lost to a bunch of guys. The Spartans were determined and tough. If you bet on the more experienced team over the freshman stars at this juncture of the NCAA tournament over the last 15 years, you would have made a lot of money.
Freshman teams rarely win titles. Texas Tech has a plan to snatch Duke from its comfort zone and send it home. Texas Tech is third in the nation in holding opponents to a 41.3% clip inside the 3-point line, and I think a Duke team that wants to eat around the rim will struggle against them. I think Thursday could be the last game for Coach K.
This is the end of the line for Coach K. He and his team did well to survive against Michigan State after trailing late in that contest. The Blue Dukes are facing a defense that is superior to anything the Atlantic Coast Conference could throw at them. Virginia prepares its fellow conference members for what they might see defensively in the tournament. Not this year.
Duke is far superior in terms of talent, and given another year this team could likely handle the Red Raiders with little difficulty. This climb is going to be too steep for the youngest rotation in the Sweet 16. Texas Tech has grown men. When Arms started his college career, Obama was still president. In 2012 and 2015, Kentucky and Duke won with amazing first-year players. The two teams that won their round-of-32 games were the top seeds. The Blue Dukes don't fit that profile.
It would be disingenuous to pick Duke now since I had them losing in the second round. I will not. Texas Tech is an older, physical, tough and unafraid team that will give the Blue Devil all they can handle. I like the Red Raiders a lot. Mark Adams won his third NCAA tournament game at the expense of Coach K.
Drew Timme was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217
I would have thought you were crazy if you told me after the first half of the Memphis game that I would be answering this question with anything other than the Bulldogs. Arizona needed a swallowed whistle and an incredible 3 from Bennedict Mathurin to survive against TCU. That was just the beginning for the Cats, with all due respect to the Frogs. The main course is Houston.
The book was written about offensive and defensive pressure. If I were building a tournament team from scratch, I would start with Christian and Mathurin, but five-on-five Houston can give Arizona a game. The only thing that gives me pause with my pick is that they have been allowing opponents to shoot a high number of 3s. If the Cats are on from the perimeter, they could end up being the No. 1 seed in this game.
I think it has to be Arizona. Arizona was lured into a bar fight by TCU. The toughest guy in the whole bar is going to have to deal with the Wildcats. Houston can do even better than TCU did. Eddie Lampkin had 20 points, 14 rebound, two blocks and 40% of the team's missed shots in the second round. They will be told to use the same physical strength that they showed at TCU by Kelvin Sampson.
I think Houston is a 1-seed. In the last 11 days, the Cougars have held both Memphis and Illinois to 53 points. Arizona faced some unexpected adversity and nearly lost. Houston thrives in those moments. The team lost Tramon Mark and Marcus Sasser to season-ending injuries in December, and that has defined the entire season. The tough games in the NCAA tournament are often dictated by the top players. There will be two or three players on the court. That matters as well.
Pick the winner of the games in the NCAA tournament from the Sweet 16 to the championship. The tournament challenge had a second chance.
Borzello: I am worried about both, but Arizona's game against Houston concerns me the most. The inability to consistently rebound on the defensive end is what it comes down to. On Sunday night, the Frogs grabbed 20 offensive boards, getting open putbacks and second-chance points in key moments. The Houston team is one of the elite offensive rebound teams in the country and is coming off a game against Illinois where it grabbed 40% of its misses. In the last 12 games, the Cougars have rebounded at least 30% of their misses.
The other concern is turnovers. Arizona has turned the ball over 35 times in two NCAA tournament games. Houston thrives on half-court pressure and making teams uncomfortable, they are ranked in the top 30 nationally in defensive turnover percentage and forced 17 against Illinois. I think I would pick Arizona, but they need to keep Houston off the glass.
Can Arkansas beat a ranked team? Yes. Can the Razorbacks make the Zags feel like they are spending 40 minutes in an orthodontist chair? No. The most fascinating game of the night is the one between Houston and Arizona, because only Houston can do that. It will take a couple of days for the Novocain to wear off, but I think the Cats will prevail.
The Michigan guard hit a hook shot over the defender to put the UM up four with under a minute left.
The Big Ten coaches I spoke to after Juwan Howard was suspended all praised his coaching ability. He had the respect of others. It was easy to forget that this was still the head coach who led his team to the Final Four a year ago, despite the late drama of the season and stumbles this year. Being deliberate about relying on Hunter Dickinson and allowing him to use his full skill set is a strategic decision. The fact that DeVante Jones has played 12 minutes in the NCAA tournament, and the fact that the Michigan have still found a way to get to the Sweet 16 says a lot about who they are.
As Jones continues to recover from a concussion, Collins has stepped in to fill his shoes. Michigan has scored 123 points per 100 possessions and held its two opponents to 87 points per 100 possessions with Collins on the court. He has played like an experienced guard. I think the magic will continue because the Wolverines can play the way they did in the first two games and still win. The team we saw in the Big Ten tournament a few weeks ago is not the same one. One of the top guards in the country is on the team of Villanova. Michigan found a way to win and I think Tennessee was a bigger challenge. I think the Michigan will win again.
I talked to a few Big Ten coaches about this topic earlier this week, and the consensus was that the Wolverines are trying to get the ball to Dickinson and run their offense through the big man. Dickinson scored 21 points on 10 shots against Colorado State and went for 27 points, three 3-pointers and four assists against Tennessee, and he also had 11 assists. When Dickinson is the focal point of Michigan's offense, it opens up space for everyone else since teams need to commit a second defender to help.
I think the Michigan run ends against Villanova. The perimeter players are playing at an extremely high level for the Cats and they have some physical play down low. I think the ability to make shots from the perimeter could cause problems for Dickinson and Moussa Diabate.
You can watch every Men's NCAA Tournament game live. March Madness is live.
I agree with the Big Ten coaches that Michigan is scoring in the paint. The average shooting percentage from the perimeter in the last two wins is more than the 22% of the tournament possessions that have been turnovers. You can win games when you get shots at the rim and convert them.
The tournament has seen a lot of points in the paint. Delaware and Ohio State both shot inside the arcs. If you wish, you can take the numbers with a grain of salt since the issue was decided early in the second half. Dickinson is expected to put up some nice numbers. I expect the Cats to score more efficiently and come away with a close win.
This is going to be one of those games that is never out of reach for the Maize and Blue, but likely never duress for the Cats. That is the new way of doing things. The Cats don't overwhelm you with NBA draft picks. They squeeze the life out of you by exploiting mismatches on offense and taking away their opponent's top threat on defense. Hunter Dickinson will be surrounded, and it will advance if it has a player like Michigan.
The inbound pass was stolen by the man and he raced down the court to dunk the ball.
It is an easy answer, but one of the Gonzaga bigs, and I lean towards the Razorbacks. One of the smaller lineups left in the NCAA tournament features the 6-foot-9 duo of AuDiese Toney and Stanley Umude at the forward spots. That could pose an issue against the big man duo of Drew Timme and Holmgren.
I think Jaylin Williams will guard Timme on the block, he is a terrific defensive player, and he will be better suited to defending the post. One of the forwards will defend the other. I think his size will give him some free looks against Arkansas, even though he has had some issues with length and athleticism this season. The Razorbacks will struggle to shoot from the perimeter and rely heavily on scoring inside the arc and at the free-throw line because of the shot-blocking ability of Holmgren.
I think we will change the way we talk about Holmgren on Thursday. He's 12-for-15 from inside the 3-point line. Through two NCAA tournament games, he is averaging 14.0 points per game, 13.0 points per game, and 3.0 points per game. The star was Timme. I think the Arkansas crew is not up to the job. I think Thursday could be the day when everyone understands what's going on with Holmgren. He is doing it all, and his 3s are not falling yet.
Arizona defeated TCU in overtime in the Sweet 16.
I am not sure if Arizona will win, but I am certain that Bennedict Mathurin will have another amazing game. He put up 30 points despite only shooting 3-of-11 on his 3s. Jonathan Givony has Mathurin going to the Knicks with the 11th pick. If that pick really happened, I would be doing cartwheels down Seventh Avenue all the way to the Garden. Mathurin knows how to play a game.
At the West Coast Conference tournament, I saw a block by Chet Holmgren. From the foul line. That behavior is not normal for a basketball player. The nation will see it this weekend.
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