West Region Round of 32 Game Breakdowns
#1 Oregon vs. #8 Saint Joseph's
The Ducks had little trouble with Holy Cross on Friday as they dominated the Crusaders 91-52. Chris Boucher led a balanced Oregon scoring attack with 20 points. Dillon Brooks and Elgin Cook also chipped in 11 points. Offensively, the Ducks were very efficient, shooting 55.7 percent from the floor. This game also allowed head coach Dana Altman to rest his players as no one played more than 26 minutes on Friday night. Defensively, Oregon limited Holy Cross to a 36.4 percent field goal percentage from the floor and they were simply too athletic across the board.
St. Joseph’s won an epic battle with Cincinnati 78-76 to advance on to play the Ducks. DeAndre’ Bembry led the Hawks with 25 points as he was almost unstoppable at times. Isaiah Miles chipped in 19 points and had seven rebounds. This duo is going to have to dominate down low against Oregon in order for St. Joseph’s to pull off the upset. The Ducks are going to have to just play like they normally do by getting the tempo up with their guards and put Boucher in a position to get Bembry and Miles in foul trouble early. Overall, look for this to be a very tough battle between two excellent teams.
Duke was tested for most of the first half against UNC Wilmington, but the Blue Devils proved to be too much in a 93-85 win over the Seahawks. Center Marshall Plumlee stepped up with a career high 23 points and collected eight rebounds. Grayson Allen did an excellent job of attacking the basket. He made 15 free throws en route to 23 points as well.
Yale scored the first of many upsets of the 2016 NCAA Tournament by knocking off Baylor 79-75. The Bulldogs were very efficient offensively and the shot 53.1 percent from the floor. Guard Makai Mason was brilliant for Yale, scoring 31 points and adding six rebounds and four assists. If Duke brings intensity for 40 minutes, they should win without too much trouble. It will also be critical for Yale to get big time performances by Mason and Justin Sears, who scored 18 points against Baylor on Thursday. If the Bulldogs can get that and cause some foul trouble for a depth challenged Duke team, then all bets are off. This game should be in the balance late in the second half.
#3 Texas A&M vs. #11 Northern Iowa
Texas A&M took care of business in their first round matchup against Green Bay. The Aggies dispatched the Phoenix by a score of 92-65. Guard Danuel House led the scoring for Texas A&M with 20 points, while shooting 8-of-12 from the floor. Defensively, the Aggies were absolutely dominant on the boards and outrebounded Green Bay by a 45-25 margin. They also caused 18 turnovers, which created plenty of easy shot opportunities all night long.
Northern Iowa capped off an epic Friday in the NCAA Tournament as Paul Jesperson’s half-court heave sank Texas 75-72 to send the Panthers through to the round of 32. Northern Iowa, as a whole, did a nice job of doing what they do best as they shot over 48 percent from the floor. They also turned the ball over just ten times against the Longhorns. Taking care of the basketball is going to be important once again in this game for both teams as Texas A&M turned the ball over 20 times on Friday night. This game should come down to the wire on Sunday as Northern Iowa is too efficient as a team to get blown out by the Aggies.
Oklahoma overcame a quite sluggish performance as they outlasted 15th seed Cal State Bakersfield by a score of 82-68. Senior guard Buddy Hield did what you would expect a national player of the year candidate to do, scoring 27 points. Sixteen of the 27 points by Hield were scored in the final 13:23 of the contest and the Sooners did not disappoint the home crowd in Oklahoma City.
VCU did a nice job of containing Oregon State in a 75-67 victory to advance on to play the Sooners. JeQuan Lewis nearly had a triple-double for the Rams, scoring 21 points with eight rebounds and seven assists. The experience of playing in the tournament along with relentless defense in the half court was the difference for VCU on Friday afternoon against Oregon State. The key for Oklahoma will be to stay patient if the perimeter shots don't fall early and keep the pressure on VCU defensively. For the Rams, it will be important to start fast and take the pro Sooner crowd out of the game. Look for Oklahoma to advance in a hard fought competitive game by around ten to twelve points.
Midwest Region Round of 32 Game Breakdowns
East Region Round of 32 Game Breakdowns
South Region Round of 32 Game Breakdowns
