By: Mike Rifkin
South recap
- Arizona def (16) Wright St : 87-70
- Villanova def (15) Delaware: 80-60
- Tennessee def (14) Longwood : 88-56
- Illinois def (13) Chattanooga : 54-53
- Houston def (12) UAB : 82-68
(11) Michigan def (6) Colorado St. : 75-63
(7) Ohio State def (10) Loyola Chicago : 54 – 41
(8) TCU def (9) Seton Hall : 69-42
Number one seed Arizona defeated Wright St. Wright St defeated Bryant in the first four for this opportunity. The Wildcats were led by Bennedict Mathurin who had 18 points. Christian Koloko had 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Wildcats shot 11-20 (55 %) from three while the Raiders shot 9-25 (36%) from three. Grant Basile led the Raiders with 21 points.
Arizona moves on to play TCU, who defeated Seton Hall 69-42. The Horned Frogs were led by Mike Miles who scored 21 points. The Horned frogs as a team shot 50.9 % from the field, while the Pirates shot 28.8 % from the field and 28.6 % from three. Myles Cale and Jamir Harris had 11 points each. Senior Jared Rhoden who averaged 15,9 points per game during the season had five points and shot 2-7 from the field.
Villanova also advanced to the second round by beating Delaware 80-60. Justin Moore led the Wildcats with 21 points. Villanova shot 46.4% (13-28) from three while the Blue Hens shot 15.0% (3-20).
Villanova will play Ohio State on Sunday. The Buckeyes defeated Loyola Chicago 54-41. EJ Liddell led the Buckeyes with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Buckeyes outrebounded the Ramblers 41-31. The Buckeyes were 17-21 from the free throw line while the Ramblers went 3-10. If Ohio State wants to defeat Villanova they have to shoot the three better, they went 1-15 against the Ramblers. Braden Norris led the Ramblers with 14 points. Ramblers struggled shooting the ball, they shot 26.8% from the field, 8-28 (28.6%) from three and 30 % from the free throw line.
Tennessee advanced to the second round by beating Longwood 88-56. The Volunteers had a balanced scoring attack ( Vescovi 18 pts, James 17 pts, Fulkerson 15 pts, Zeigler 10 pts). Volunteers shot 58.3% from three (14-24) and 60.0% from the field.
Tennessee will play Michigan. The Wolverines, a team a lot of people didn’t understand getting in, defeated the Colorado St Rams 75-63. Hunter Dickinson led the balanced attack with 21 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Michigan shot 19-22 from the free throw line while the Rams went 5-7. As a team Michigan shot 54.2% from the field, while the Rams shot 35.4%. With the win there is a chance starting Point Guard DeVante Jones could return, he missed the game due to concussion protocol.
Illinois survived an upset scare from Chattanooga 54-53. The Mocs had led most of the game but at the final buzzer Illini survived. Kofi Cockburn led the way with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Illinois got a lift from Alfonso Plummer who scored 15 points. If Illinois wants to make a deep run they need more from Trent Frazier and Andre Curbelo who combined for seven points on a combined 1-13 from the field.
Illinois advances to play the Houston Cougars. Houston defeated UAB 82-68. Kyler Edwards led the way with 25 points. During the regular season the Blazers shot 38 % from three, in this game they went 5-19 (26.3%)
RD 2 Matchups
- Arizona vs (9) TCU
- Villanova vs (7) Ohio State
- Tennessee vs (11) Michigan
- Illinois vs (5) Houston
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