By Robert Lastella
The NCAA tournament is officially here and we are headed to Providence!
Complete coverage of the opening rounds will be provided by Bracketeer journalist, Robert Lastella.
SCHEDULE
AFTERNOON SESSION
- 4-seed Purdue and 13-seed High Point will open things up at 12:40 PM,
- 5-seed Clemson vs 12-seed McNeese close out the afternoon round at Approx. 3:15 PM
EVENING SESSION
- 7-seed Kansas will take on 10-seed Arkansas at 7:10 PM
- 2-seed Saint John’s will take on 15-seed Omaha at Approx. 9:45 PM.
These pods feature eight coaches with different stories, as two legends John Calipari and Bill Self battle it out against one another, while two high major coaches Matt Painter and Brad Brownell look to assert themselves among the best coaches in the sport against tough mid-major opponents. Rick Pitino looks to keep the redemption tour rolling into the first round against Omaha. As for mid-major coaches, High Point Coach Alan Huss looks to make himself and his Panthers squad known on the national landscape with a win over Purdue, Will Wade looks to get McNeese past the first round and keep his name trending up in coaching searches across the power ranks with an upset over Clemson. Lastly, Chris Crutchfield, a career assistant who has built up Omaha over the past few years will look to pull off the upset of the year against Saint John’s.
The coaching is elite in these pods, but the talent on the court is even better, High Point and McNeese being two of the most dangerous mid-majors for a high major to face in the entire tournament and both will have a chance to knock off successful power opponents on Thursday.
Kansas and Arkansas are both looking to put their rocky regular seasons behind them and the winner of that matchup could very well make a run in this tournament, as all it takes is one win to get rolling and it could happen in Providence on Thursday night.
Notes on each team playing in the Providence this weekend:
(4) PURDUE VS. (13) HIGH POINT CAPSULES
PURDUE
Leading Scorer: 6’9 F Trey Kaufman-Renn, 20.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.2 APG
Notable stats:
Ken Pom Rank- 18th
Positive offensive stats- effective field goal percentage (56.3%, 16th), turnover percentage
(15.6%, 68th), 3-point percentage (38.5%, 10th), 2-point percentage (55.5%, 37th), Assist rate
(57.7%, 53rd)
Negative offensive stats- No Major offensive stat outside of the top 150
NCAA tournament round one: Providence quadrant preview
Positive defensive stats- 3-point percentage allowed (30.7%, 27th),
Negative defensive stats– effective field goal percentage allowed (52%, 242nd), 2-point
percentage allowed (56.4%, 350th), offensive rebounds allowed (29.9%, 186th)
HIGH POINT
Leading Scorer: 6’2 G Kezza Giffa, 14.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.5 APG
Notable stats:
Ken Pom Rank- 85th
Positive offensive stats- effective FG percentage (56.4%, 12th), turnover percentage (15.3%,
51st), offensive rebound percentage (34%, 60th), FT Rate (37.6%, 53rd), 3-point percentage
(36.6%, 51st), 2-point percentage (57.4%, 15th)
Negative offensive stats- No Major offensive stat outside the top 100
Positive defensive stats– effective FG percentage allowed (49.1%, 93rd), 2-point percentage
allowed (48.9%, 98th), 3-point percentage allowed (32.9%, 121st)
Negative defensive stats- turnover percentage forced (16.5%, 225th), FT Rate allowed
(36.3%, 270th)
Matchup thoughts
Purdue may come into this matchup as the 4 seed and dominate, however, there is a path to success for High Point, as the Panthers are a high-performing team on both ends of the court and if the Boilers don’t assert themselves early and this game becomes a battle, watch out. There isn’t much of a size advantage in this matchup for Purdue and with the Boilermakers struggling with 2-point defense, if High Point can capitalize on their paint touches while finding a way to slow the game down, this is a game that an upset could occur, but expect a close battle with either side being capable of advancing.
CLEMSON VS. McNEESE CAPSULES
CLEMSON
5 seed- Clemson:
Leading Scorer: 6’4 G Chase Hunter, 16.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.5 APG
Notable stats:
Ken Pom Rank- 19th
Positive offensive stats- effective FG percentage (53.6, 64th), turnover percentage (17.8%,
78th), offensive rebound percentage (33.7%, 67th), 3-point percentage (37.2%, 31st)
Negative offensive stats- FT Rate (28.2%, 316th)
Positive defensive stats- effective FG percentage allowed (48.9%, 88th), turnover percentage
allowed (20.1%, 42nd), 3-point percentage allowed (32.1%, 80th)
Negative defensive stats- offensive rebound percentage allowed (29.9%, 191st), no other
stats outside the top 150.
McNEESE
12 seed- McNeese:
Leading Scorer: 6’3 G Javohn Garcia, 12.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.9 APG
Notable stats:
Ken Pom Rank– 60th
Positive offensive stats– effective FG percentage (53.3, 75th), turnover percentage (16.2%,
115th), offensive rebound percentage (34.7%, 42nd), 3-point percentage (35.6%, 77th), 2-point
percentage (53.2%, 99th)
Negative offensive stats- FT Percentage (70.7%, 235th)
Positive defensive stats- effective FG percentage allowed (47.5%, 39th), turnover percentage
allowed (21.6%, 18th), 3-point percentage allowed (32.2%, 84th), 2-point percentage allowed
(46.9%, 35th)
Negative Defensive stats- Offensive rebound percentage allowed (31.3%, 259th)
Matchup thoughts:
For the second year in a row, McNeese is a mid-major to watch, as Will Wade has this squad humming and they have the talent and cohesion to potentially knock off Clemson in this matchup. Clemson however isn’t a slouch of a power opponent, as the Tigers have been a scrappy team offensively, also with a solid 3-point shot collectively, while on the defensive side of things, they are a top 150 team across the board and will frustrate McNeese both down low and on the perimeter defensively.
This game is going to be a true March battle, however, if McNeese can run their normal offense and break Clemson’s staunch defense, they can pull off the upset, but it’s going to require one of their better offensive performances of the season.
KANSAS VS. ARKANSAS CAPSULES
KANSAS
7 seed- Kansas:
Leading Scorer: Hunter Dickinson, 17.6 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 2.0 APG
Notable Stats:
Ken Pom Rank- 21
Positive offensive stats: effective FG percentage (53.1, 78th), 3-point percentage (35.2%,
102nd), 2-point percentage (53.4%, 91st)
Negative offensive stats: Offensive rebound percentage (30.4%, 165th), FT Rate (71.1%,
223rd), FT % (71.1%, 223rd)
Positive defensive stats: effective FG percentage allowed (46.2%, 15th), offensive rebound
percentage allowed (27.5%, 68th), 3-point percentage allowed (30.9%, 36th), 2-point
percentage allowed (46.1%, 18th)
Negative defensive stats: turnover percentage forced (15.6%, 285th)
ARKANSAS
10 seed- Arkansas:
Leading Scorer: 6’8 F Adou Thiero, 15.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.0 APG
Notable Stats:
Ken Pom Rank- 40
Positive offensive stats: effective FG percentage (52.7, 88th), 2-point percentage (54.4%,
62nd)
Negative offensive stats: offensive rebound percentage (27.6%, 249th), 3-point percentage
(33.3%, 201st)
Positive defensive stats: effective FG percentage allowed (48.3%, 61st), offensive rebound
percentage allowed (28.3% 100th), 3-point percentage allowed (31.9%, 72nd), 2-point
percentage allowed (48.5%, 86th)
Negative defensive stats: No Major defensive stat outside the top 150.
Matchup thoughts:
It is a battle of two teams who vastly underperformed this season and one side will get to build momentum with a win, while the other will see their efforts to save a downseason go by the wayside. Kansas has been down pretty much all of the conference play, going 5-5 over their last 10 games, while Arkansas saved their season down the stretch, winning 4 out of their last 5 to close the season.
This game leans toward Kansas as they have the size and a bit more experience in this matchup, however, if Arkansas can find a way to slow down Hunter Dickinson while getting solid games out of Adou Thiero, Johnell Davis, and Boogie Fland, this is a game they can win as well, but they will need to come out with energy from the jump and control the pace throughout.
ST. JOHN’S VS. OMAHA CAPSULES
ST. JOHN’S
2 seed- Saint Johns:
Leading Scorer: RJ Luis Jr, 18.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.1 APG
Notable stats:
Ken Pom Rank- 11th
Positive offense stats- Turnover percentage (15.6%, 67th), offensive rebound percentage
(37.3%, 9th)
Negative offense stats- Effective FG percentage (49.7%, 244th), FT Rate (30.2%, 269th), 3-
point percentage (30.4%, 338th), FT percentage (68.9%, 295th)
Positive defensive stats- Effective FG percentage allowed (46.6%, 19th), turnover percentage
forced (21.9%, 13th), 3-point percentage allowed (31.8%, 67th), 2-point percentage allowed
(45.8%, 11th).
OMAHA
15 seed- Omaha:
Leading Scorer: 6’8 Senior F Marquel Sutton, 19.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.2 APG
Notable stats:
Ken Pom Rank- 156th
Positive offensive stats- Effective FG percentage (53.5%, 69th), turnover percentage (15.7%,
82nd), FT Rate (36.4%, 78th), 3-point percentage (36.7%, 44th)
Negative offensive stats- offensive rebound percentage (29.2%, 205th), assist rate (49.5%,
243rd)
Positive defensive stats- offensive rebound percentage allowed (25.4%, 19th)
Negative defensive stats- effective FG % allowed (53.1%, 284th), turnover percentage allowed
(14.9%, 321st), 3-point percentage allowed (35.1%, 259th), 2-point percentage allowed (53.5%,
283rd)
Matchup Thoughts:
This is a tough draw for Omaha, as for a mid-major they have a high-level offense, checking in at the top 100 in multiple areas and they also have a 6’8 F in Sutton who can cause problems against the right matchup, however, Saint John’s is not that squad. The Johnnies’ defense is spectacular and although Omaha’s offense is good, it’s not at a level to perform highly against Saint John’s, and if the Johnnies can get scoring from Luis, Kadary Richmond, and Zuby Ejiofor, Omaha will not be able to keep up.
Look for Saint John’s to win handily, although if their offense struggles, this one may be closer than expected.
Cover Photo Credits: St Johns Athletics
