What to watch Saturday in the NCAA Tournament
What to watch Saturday in the NCAA Tournament:
TOP BILLING: Upsets provide the biggest thrills of the tournament. Ohio State is unlikely to upset Arizona, a 9½-point favorite and the No. 2 seed in the West. But the Buckeyes can make this game interesting because of freshman guard D’Angelo Russell, who scored 28 points in a 75-72 overtime victory over Virginia Commonwealth on Thursday. In fact, two of the nation’s best freshmen will be going head to head. Stanley Johnson hit 4 of 5 3-pointers and had 22 points in the Wildcats’ 93-72 victory over Texas Southern. Russell and Johnson will be among the top 10 picks in the NBA Draft in June.
Size matters in this matchup, so Arizona is a big favorite to advance. The Wildcats put some seriously talented big men on the floor with 6-foot-9-inch forward Brandon Ashley and 7-foot Kaleb Tarczewski. Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are both 6-7. The Buckeyes’ most effective interior scorer is 6-4, 230-pound freshman Jae’Sean Tate.
Sean Miller of Arizona is one of the most accomplished coaches to never reach a Final Four. The trend is for his teams to fall agonizingly short. But the Wildcats should advance to the Sweet 16, with top-seeded Wisconsin possibly waiting down the road.
LOUISVILLE GOES BLUE: Top-ranked Kentucky (35-0) and its fans invade enemy territory this weekend, turning a red city to blue. The Wildcats, playing in the Cardinals’ home arena, coasted to a 23-point victory over Hampton in their opener. That performance was a bit of a disappointment for a team favored by 35. Kentucky, a 17-point favorite in this round, should crush a Cincinnati team lacking size and scorers. Unless the ghost of Colonel Sanders appears in the KFC Yum! Center, John Calipari won’t get a scare.
BRACKET BUSTERS: Two double-digit seeds in the South Region advanced Thursday, and No. 11 UCLA is a 6-point favorite over No. 14 Alabama-Birmingham. The Blazers pulled off the biggest shocker by taking down Iowa State 60-59. The Bruins edged Southern Methodist 60-59 amid some controversy. Yes, those games had identical final scores.
Thursday was crazy from beginning to end. Of the 16 games, five were decided by one point. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, there never had been more than three one-point games on the first full day. The upsets were not quite impossible to predict. Only 273 of 11.57 million ESPN Tournament Challenge brackets were a perfect 16-for-16, and those 273 people should be playing the lottery with that kind of luck.
STATE RIVALRY: Notre Dame and Butler, teams from Indiana with strong basketball traditions, are meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The Bulldogs are coached by Chris Holtmann, not Norman Dale. And their dead-eye shooter is Kellen Dunham, not Jimmy Chitwood. The Fighting Irish, coached by Mike Brey and led by senior guard Jerian Grant, are 5-point favorites. Can the little guys upend the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champions? OK, this is not going to be a movie sequel about a miracle team from a small town. The game is being played in Pittsburgh, not Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Butler has the better recent history, with 12 NCAA wins since 2010, and only Kentucky and Florida have more during that span.
THE SURVIVORS: North Carolina barely escaped its opener, beating Harvard by two points. Arkansas also dodged an upset bid in a three-point win over Wofford. The Tar Heels are 4½-point favorites over the Razorbacks. Both teams like to run, and the total is 158. This might be the most exciting back-and-forth game of the day.
North Carolina State, a one-point winner in its opening game, is a big underdog against top-seeded Villanova. While most teams were sweating out close games Thursday, the Wildcats were putting a 41-point whipping on Lafayette.
CINDERELLA KILLERS: Eastern Washington and Stephen F. Austin were popular public underdogs Thursday, but both teams were sent home with sad faces. Georgetown eliminated the Eagles, and Utah chopped down the Lumberjacks. The Utes are coached by Larry Krystkowiak, who has a slightly more difficult name to spell than Mike Krzyzewski. Krystkowiak does not have 1,000 wins, either, but he’s one win from the Sweet 16.
HOW ABOUT AN ENCORE?: R.J. Hunter, the coach’s son, hit a deep 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining as Georgia State stunned Baylor 57-56. Can he repeat the feat? Underdogs like this often die in the next round, and the Panthers are 7-point ‘dogs against Xavier. The media is ready and waiting to play up this Cinderella story.
