Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Advertisements
Advertisements

Mens basketball: Previewing the second, third rounds of NCAA tournament in Omaha

Mens+basketball%3A+Previewing+the+second%2C+third+rounds+of+NCAA+tournament+in+Omaha
Jason Chan

Four teams will begin their NCAA tournament this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska as part of the West Regional. Games will take place at the CenturyLink Center, beginning Friday with No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State, followed by No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 16 Coastal Carolina.

The two winners from those games will meet on Sunday for a birth in the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles on the line.

Here’s a brief rundown of each team:

Advertisements

No. 1 Wisconsin (31-3, 16-2 Big Ten) – First place in the Big Ten

There’s no doubt Wisconsin has the talent to not only make the Final Four, but contend for a National Championship — they’re a one-seed for a reason. The Badgers are playing some of their best basketball of the season coming off a Big Ten regular season and tournament championship.

What makes Wisconsin so lethal is the talent and distribution of scoring in its starting lineup. While Big Ten Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky leads the team with 18.2 points per game in Chicago this past weekend, the scoring was much more spread out. Kaminsky scored 47 points over the team’s three games while Sam Dekker had 36, Bronson Koenig had 49 and Nigel Hayes led the team with 51 points.

If the Badgers continue to do what they’ve been doing, they should have no problem moving on out of Omaha, Nebraska, and onto Los Angeles.

No. 8 Oregon (25-9 overall, 13-5 Pac-12) – Third place in the Pac-12

After opening up conference play with a 2-3 record, Oregon went on a tear for the final two months of the season, winning 13 of their last 16 outings and making it all the way to the Pac-12 championship game. Despite their hot finish to the season, the Ducks did play a ranked team seven times and went just 2-5 against them. Those two wins came against Utah, once at home and once in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals.

Oregon played Pac-12 champion Arizona three times on the year, but were never competitive, losing each outing by a combined 80 points. Overall, the Ducks went 4-7 against teams currently in the NCAA tournament.

Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year Joseph Young leads Oregon. The Houston native led the conference in scoring, averaging 20.2 points per game and is a threat to take over a game every time he steps on the floor. Young was phenomenal in the team’s 85-77 loss to Wisconsin in last year’s regional quarterfinal, scoring 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting in 34 minutes.

No. 9 Oklahoma St. (18-13 overall, 8-10 Big 12) – Seventh place in the Big 12

Don’t let Oklahoma State’s record and low finish in the conference standings fool you. The Cowboys are a tough team and have been battle tested all season. In the stacked Big 12 conference, Oklahoma State had the luxury of playing 14 ranked teams throughout the course of the season. They went just 5-9 against those teams, but picked up two wins against Texas, two wins against Baylor and a win against Kansas.

However, down the final stretch of the season, the Cowboys won just one of their final seven games, ending with a 15-point loss to rival Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.

Senior forward Le’Bryan Nash will be leading Oklahoma State. Coming into school, Nash, a freakishly athletic 6-foot-7 wing, was seen as a potential one-and-done, but now, in his final season as a Cowboy, the Dallas native will look to lead his team on one final tournament run. Nash is second in the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game this season, and he has scored in double figures in every game he has played this year. If Oklahoma State and Wisconsin were to meet in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Nash could give Wisconsin junior forward Sam Dekker some trouble on the wing on both sides of the ball.

No. 16 Coastal Carolina (24-9, 12-6 Big South) – Third place in the Big South

The Chanticleers are certainly not a no-name team in this year’s tournament. Last season, as a 16-seed, Coastal Carolina had No. 1 Virginia on the ropes, taking a 35-30 lead at halftime before eventually falling to the Cavaliers. This season, the Chanticleers lost to Ole Miss (a tournament team) by only three points and rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to upset Auburn on the road 58-54.

Coastal Carolina won four of its last five regular season games to earn the third seed in the Big South conference tournament. CCU then rattled off three straight wins against UNC-Asheville, Gardner Webb and Winthrop to win the tournament title and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Senior guard Warren Gillis, who leads Coastal Carolina, averages a team-high 13.1 points per game. In addition to Gillis, the Chanticleers have three other scorers averaging double figures in Josh Cameron (12.9), Elijah Wilson (11.1) and Shivaughn Wiggins (10.2). Coastal Carolina returned four starters from last season to this season, so the experience is certainly there for CCU.

Advertisements
Leave a Comment
Donate to The Badger Herald

Your donation will support the student journalists of University of Wisconsin-Madison. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The Badger Herald

Comments (0)

All The Badger Herald Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *