Saturday - Session 3
March 17, 2017
West Region (Salt Lake City, UT)
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 7 Saint Mary’s, CA (CBS, 7:30 p.m.)
-- This is a 2/7 matchup in the West Region that’ll be contested in Salt Lake City. As of late Friday afternoon, most betting shops had Arizona (31-4 straight up, 18-14 against the spread) installed as a five-point favorite with a total of 132. The Gaels were +180 on the money line (risk $100 to win $180).
-- Sean Miller, along with Mark Few, are widely considered the nation’s best head coaches who have never taken their teams to a Final Four. Miller has an excellent shot at changing that this year. In fact, if form holds, Arizona and Gonzaga will meet in the West Region finals in San Jose with one of them ending their national-semifinal drought.
-- Arizona advanced to the Round of 32 by beating North Dakota 100-82 as an 18-point favorite. Lauri Markkanen hit 8-of-12 shots from the field in a 20-point effort. Rawle Alkins shared team-high scoring honors with 20 points and five assists without a turnover. Alkins buried all eight of his attempts from the field, including both 3-pointers. Allonzo Trier finished with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists compared to merely one turnover.
-- Trier missed UA’s first 19 games due to an NCAA suspension, but he’s played in the 16 games since then. Trier is averaging a team-high 17.3 points per game He is also grabbing 5.1 rebounds per game while draining 40.5 percent of his 3-pointers. Markkanen, a true freshman power forward, is averaging 15.7 points and 7.1 RPG. He’s making 42.9 percent of his treys. Alkins (11.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG) and Dusan Ristic (10.6 PPG) are also averaging double figures. Ristic has buried 50.0 percent of his 3’s and 54.7 percent of his shots from the floor. Parker Jackson-Cartwright has a 121/40 assists-to-turnover ratio and he makes 43.1 percent of his 3-balls.
-- Arizona has been a single-digit ‘chalk’ nine times this season, posting a 6-3 spread record.
-- Arizona is 19th in the nation in 3-point shooting (39.7%), 22nd in free-throw percentage (76.1%) and 32nd in field-goal percentage (47.9%). The Wildcats are ranked 21st nationally at defending the 3-point line (31.1%).
-- Saint Mary’s (29-4 SU, 17-11 ATS) has been an underdog three times this year, going 0-3 both SU and ATS. We should note that all three of those games were against Gonzaga.
-- Saint Mary’s improved its all-time NCAA Tournament record to 5-8 with Thursday’s 85-77 win over VCU as a four-point favorite. The Gaels, who are making their ninth NCAA appearance in their program’s history, are hoping to get to their second Sweet 16 and their first since 2010. Jock Landale was the catalyst against the Rams, producing 18 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. Joe Rahon and Calvin Hermanson chipped in 16 points apiece, while Emmett Naar had 13 points, six assists and two steals. Tanner Krebs added 12 points and five boards in just 19 minutes of playing time from off of the bench.
-- Landale leads Saint Mary’s in scoring (16.9 PPG), rebounding (9.4 RPG), field-goal percentage (61.2%) and blocked shots (1.2 BPG). Hermanson (13.1 PPG) shoots at a 44.1 percent clip from 3-point land. Naar averages 9.6 points and 5.8 assists per game.
-- Randy Bennett’s team is ranked eighth in the country in FG percentage (49.7%) and 18th in 3-point accuracy (39.8%). The Gaels are second in the nation in scoring defense (57.1%), ninth at defending the 3-point line (29.9%).
-- The ‘under’ is 17-13 overall for the Gaels.
-- Totals have been an overall wash (17-17-1) for Arizona, but it has seen four consecutive ‘overs.’
-- This game will tip at around 7:45 p.m. Eastern on CBS.
East Region (Orlando, FL)
No. 4 Florida vs. No. 5 Virginia (TNT, 8:30 p.m.)
-- As of late Friday afternoon, most books had Florida (25-8 SU, 18-13 ATS) listed as a 1.5-point favorite with a total of 126.
-- Florida improved to 43-17 in 60 all-time NCAA Tournament games with Thursday’s 80-65 win over East Tennessee State as a 9.5-point favorite. Junior forward Devin Robinson was the catalyst with 24 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Chris Chiozza, who finished with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal in 23 minutes of playing time from off of the bench, sparked a 10-1 second-half run that gave UF the separation it needed. The junior guard hit 4-of-5 shots, including both of his launches from downtown. Senior guard Kasey Hill, the only player on UF’s roster that wasn’t making his NCAA Tournament debut, had 14 points, six boards, five assists and a pair of steals. Kevarrius Hayes, who became the starting center when John Egbunu was lost to a season-ending injury, contributed seven points, seven rebounds, six steals and two blocked shots.
-- Along with Northwestern’s Chris Collins, Mike White has a 1-0 record in the NCAA Tournament as a head coach. He has to feel good about that when his team’s leading scorer KeVaughn Allen went 1-of-11 from the field against the Buccaneers. To his credit, the sophomore guard out of Little Rock dished out four assists and didn’t commit a turnover. Allen has went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
-- Allen averages a team-high 13.7 PPG. He is making 38.5 percent of his 3-balls and 87.8 percent of his FTs. Canyon Barry, a senior grad transfer from Charleston who is the youngest son of NBA Hall-of-Gamer Rick Barry, is averaging 11.9 PPG. Robinson averages 11.3 points and 6.2 RPG while shooting at a 39.0 percent clip from long distance.
-- UF’s best wins came at home over Kentucky, Arkansas and South Carolina. The Gators also won at Arkansas, in addition to beating Miami and Seton Hall on neutral courts. They didn’t lose to anyone outside of the RPI Top 50, and there were two losses to Vandy by three combined points and a third defeat to the Commodores in overtime at last week’s SEC Tournament.
-- Virginia (23-10 SU, 18-13 ATS) advanced to the Round of 32 with a 76-71 win over UNC-Wilmington, but the Seahawks took the cash as 7.5-point underdogs. As usual, London Perrantes led the way with 24 points and three assists compared to only one turnover. Marial Shayok dropped 23 points on ETSU, draining 3-of-5 shots from 3-point range. Darius Thompson added 10 points, four boards and four blocked shots.
-- Perrantes paces the Cavs in scoring (12.9 PPG) and assists (3.8 APG).
-- UVA junior forward Isaiah Wilkins is listed as ‘doubtful’ with strep throat. Wilkins tried to play against UNC-Wilmington, but he contributed just one rebound in five minutes of action. Wilkins averages 6.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game.
-- UVA leads the nation in scoring defense (56.1 PPG) and is 13th in FG percentage defense (39.6%).
-- This is UF’s lowest total of the season. The previous low was 129.5 points in a 65-56 win over Miami that saw the 121 combined points fall ‘under’ the number. The ‘under’ is 17-14 overall for the Gators, going 8-3 in their last 11 contests.
-- The ‘under’ is 19-11-1 overall for UVA, but the ‘over’ has hit in each of its last three outings.
-- The winner will advance to Madison Square Garden in New York City, where it will meet the Villanova-Wisconsin survivor on Thursday night.
-- Tip-off on TNT is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. Eastern, depending on how long Xavier vs. FSU takes to conclude.
Midwest Region (Milwaukee, WI)
No. 5 Iowa State vs. No. 4 Purdue (TBS, 9:30 p.m.)
-- As of late Friday afternoon, most spots had Purdue (26-7 SU, 18-10 ATS) listed as a one-point favorite with a total of 152.
-- Iowa State (24-10 SU, 19-12 ATS) might be the nation’s hottest team, winning 10 of its last 11 games while going 9-2 ATS. The Cyclones won their fifth consecutive game Thursday by besting Nevada 84-73 as six-point ‘chalk.’ The foul-fest by the Wolf Pack in the final minute allowed late ISU free throws to get the 157 combined to slip ‘over’ the 156.5-point total.
-- ISU senior point guard Monte Morris was the catalyst against Nevada, tallying 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Deonte Burton finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Naz Mitrou-Long contributed 13 points, three boards and three steals. Donovan Jackson needed only four shots from the field to score 12 points in 16 minutes of PT from off of the bench. Jackson hit all four of his shots from the field and all four of his FT attempts.
-- If this line holds, Iowa State will be in the underdog role for the 15th time. The Cyclones have compiled a 10-4 spread record with seven outright victories in those 15 games as ‘dogs.
-- Morris leads ISU in scoring (16.4 PPG) and assists (6.1 APG). He also pulls down 4.9 rebounds per game, makes 39.0 percent of his 3-pointers and has an incredible 208/39 assists-to-turnovers ratio. Burton (14.8 PPG) paces the Cyclones in rebounding (6.3 RPG), steals (1.7 SPG) and blocked shots (1.4 BPG). Mitrou-Long (15.4 PPG) and Matt Thomas (12.1 PPG) are shooting at 39.0 percent and 44.4 percent clips from 3-point land, respectively.
-- Iowa State is ranked 27th nationally in scoring (81.0 PPG) and 13th in 3-point accuracy (40.3%).
-- Purdue won the Big Ten regular-season championship, only to get bounced from the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals by Michigan in overtime. That result led the Boilermakers to enter the Tourney with fresh legs, which might’ve been an impact as they pulled away from Vermont in the second half to win 80-70 as 8.5-point favorites. Vince Edwards led the way with a team-best 21 points to go with five rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. Edwards made 10-of-16 shots from the field. Caleb Swanigan finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Dakota Mathias produced 13 points, six boards and five assists compared to just one turnover. Carsen Edwards and P.J. Thompson were also in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
-- Swanigan earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors by averaging 18.4 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. He has posted four straight double-doubles. Swanigan also averaged 2.9 assists and 0.8 blocked shots per game. He makes 53.2 percent of his shots from the field and can also step out beyond the arc, as Swanigan has buried 32-of-75 from downtown (42.7%).
-- The win over the Catamounts was Purdue’s first in the NCAA Tournament since 2012. Matt Painter’s squad is looking to make the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven years.
-- Iowa State is looking to qualify for the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years.
-- The ‘over’ has hit in 10 consecutive games for the Cyclones, who have seen the ‘over’ go 17-4 in their last 21 outings to improve to 19-12 overall.
-- The ‘over’ is 17-12-1 overall for Purdue, going 4-1 in its last five games. This is the third-highest total the Boilermakers have seen this season. In the five previous games Purdue had with totals in the 150s, the ‘over’ is 3-1-1.
-- The winner advances to the Midwest Region semifinals in Kansas City to play the 1/8 or 9 winner, which will be either Kansas, Michigan State or Miami. The Cyclones split a pair of regular-season games with KU, with both teams winning on the road.
-- TBS will have the telecast from Milwaukee at around 9:40 p.m. Eastern.
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