He has scored at least 14 points in 11 of his past 12 games.īudding Buzzer Beater: No. But it should be a high-scoring affair in which Murray does everything in his power to keep the Hawkeyes from going home right away. And the last team you want to face with a freshman point guard is Kent State, whose Sincere Carry and Malique Jacobs could turn this game into a living nightmare for JHS.Īuburn should win, because Iowa's apathy on defense is always a problem in March. As far as this matchup goes, Trayce Jackson-Davis will probably do his stat-sheet stuffing thing for the Hoosiers, but they need freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino playing well to hit their ceiling. Last-second drama is almost a guarantee here. Texas A&M recently had a string of seven straight games decided by single digits. Every Penn State game comes right down to the wire these days. Have you watched a Penn State game during this recent run? PSU is 6-2 in its past eight games-all decided by four points or fewer, two in overtime. Between the Tigers' two Ivy League tournament wins, the point-forward from Great Britain racked up 42 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.īudding Buzzer Beater: No. Player to Watch: Tosan Evbuomwan, PrincetonĪrizona is going to win this game with some room to spare, but Evbuomwan could at least make things interesting for a while. But it will never be enough for me to believe the Wolfpack deserved to get in. And NC State is going to go on a run this year. Syracuse won two games in 2021 and made the Final Four in 2016. But I also have a rule: When I'm appalled about a team receiving an at-large bid-particularly if it's an ACC team-I have to pick that team to win at least one game. It could be a Final Four squad with a little bit of luck. It always feels this way, but especially this year, it wouldn't be a surprise if every No.
The Aztecs find a way to win, but there's just no way they're going to blow out the Cougars. The Mountain West has gone 0-8 in the past three NCAA tournaments. I still think Kentucky gets the win, but we could see Hopkins going for 30 in a loss.īudding Buzzer Beater: No. Hopkins transferred from Kentucky to Providence and became a star, but he'll probably be bringing a little extra intensity to this pairing. This is a fun little matchup here from the selection committee, pitting Hopkins against the team that could hardly find any use for him last season. Player to Watch: Bryce Hopkins, Providence And while Tennessee is ripe for an early exit, it would've been way more tantalizing if it had been matched up with Kent State or Iona. I love Oral Roberts, but Duke is on fire. It should be a fascinating matchup, likely to be played at a fast pace.īelieve me, I will be picking plenty of upsets throughout the course of this exercise, including several in the second round of this region. FAU won 31 games while looking the part of a Sweet 16 team, and Memphis is even better, riding high from a big win over Houston in the AAC championship. If for some reason you're only able to watch one first-round game, make it this one. The big Bulldog should have a field dayīudding Buzzer Beater: No. Meanwhile, Pitt's defense cannot stop anything as of late. Smith has scored in double figures in 17 consecutive games, recording a points-rebounds double-double in 10 of those contests. Player to Watch: Tolu Smith, Mississippi State But it should be a close call between an FDU defense that can't stop anything and a Texas Southern offense that can't score.
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If this game goes to overtime, it's probably going to be one of those "This is expensive free basketball" types of games between teams that both reside in the "Louisville Range" of the KenPom rankings. And thus far in March, Nevada has played twice and both games went to overtime. Nevada also can probably credit Kenan Blackshear's buzzer-beater at New Mexico for sneaking into the field. canned a 60-foot buzzer-beater to knock off Arizona a few weeks ago. I mean, Arizona State is only in the tournament because Desmond Cambridge Jr.
The Picks: Fairleigh Dickinson over Texas Southern, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi over Southeast Missouri State, Mississippi State over Pittsburgh, Nevada over Arizona Stateīudding Buzzer Beater: Nevada vs.
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