Things sure got weird quick in the East Region, didn’t they? The top two seeds? Gone. Their spot in the bracket usurped by an 8 and a 15 seed, respectively. Now, with only four teams remaining, we look forward to matchups pitting bluebloods North Carolina and UCLA against each other, and Purdue taking on the tournament’s Cinderella Peacocks from Saint Peter’s.
#8 North Carolina vs. #4 UCLA
How North Carolina made it here: They started off the tournament by blowing the brakes off of Marquette, winning 95-63 in a game that was never really close. UNC scored 53 points in the opening half and never looked back. Brady Manek scored a game high 28, with Caleb Love chipping in 23. The two combined to shoot 11-23 from behind the arc. Then, in round two, the Tar Heels came out hot again, racing out to a massive lead against last year’s champs, the Baylor Bears. Unlike the Marquette game, however, the Heels nearly choked away their massive lead in the second half, as Baylor scored 51 second half points to force overtime. Manek was again impressive, scoring 26 points before being ejected for a flagrant foul. RJ Davis scored 30, redeeming himself for his 1-10 shooting day against the Golden Eagles.
How UCLA made it here: UCLA started off their tournament run by squeaking by Akron. Akron actually led at the half, but the Bruins made just enough plays in the second half to come out victorious. Despite their win, the Bruins only led for about ten and a half minutes throughout the game. Had Tyger Campbell not had a late surge to close the game, UCLA may have fallen in the round of 64. In the next round, UCLA faced off against St. Mary’s, and looked much better in this game. They ultimately won 72-56 and had a balanced scoring attack with Campbell, Johnny Juzang, Jaime Jaquez, and Jules Bernard all scoring between 14-16 points.
Key to the game: This game could very well be decided by how the two teams start the game. UNC has gotten off to lightning fast starts and used large early leads to put them in position to win their games (even though Baylor nearly made them pay for a poor second half). If UNC comes out hot and UCLA plays the way they did in the first half last week against Akron, the game could be over quickly. However, if UCLA can keep pace early, their balanced attack could be troublesome for the Tar Heels down the stretch.
Matchup to watch: RJ Davis Vs. Tyger Campbell
UNC has had their guards taking turns being productive in the tournament so far. Davis had a big game against Baylor, but struggled mightily against Marquette. Against UCLA, they will likely need him to be good. He doesn’t need to score 30, or even be the leading or second leading scorer. They do need him to be a threat though. Campbell isn’t necessarily a top scoring threat, but he runs the offense well for UCLA and can score when needed. UNC won’t be able to focus on just one player against the Bruins, but they’d be wise to do their best to disrupt Campbell, because when he struggles, so does UCLA’s offense.
Bottom Line: Do you go with the steadier, more balanced team, or do you go with the team that has been red hot but sporadic? If North Carolina can put together two halves of basketball like they have in their previous two first halves, they could beat UCLA by 20. If they play two halves like they did the second half against Baylor, UCLA could beat them by 20. Because UNC is so unpredictable, the pick is UCLA. Johnny Juzang has not played the way he did in last season’s tournament, but that changes here and he helps the Bruins advance to the Elite Eight.
#3 Purdue vs. #15 St. Peter’s
How Purdue got here: The Boilermakers started off the tournament with a 78-56 win against Yale. The combination of Jaden Ivey (22 points, 4 rebounds) and Zach Edey (16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) were too much for Yale to withstand. However, in the next round Purdue got a much harder push from Texas. Despite the double digit margin, this game was in doubt throughout. Texas placed three players in double figures, including Marcus Carr with 23. However, Trevion Williams had a bounce back game, scoring 22, and three other Boilermakers reached double figures (Ivey, Edey, and Eric Hunter Jr.). Purdue made enough plays down the stretch to put it away and ended up shooting an impressive 48.8% from the field against Texas.
How St. Peter’s got here: Talk about a team hell bent on busting brackets. The tiny 15 seed out of New Jersey has become a household name this past week. They started off their run going blow for blow with Kentucky, winning 85-79 in overtime. Darryl Banks III paced the Peacocks with 27 points (on 5-8 three point shooting) and the mustachioed Doug Edert tossed in 20 in the contest. Then, fulfilling their quest to make everybody in the state of Kentucky hate them, they discarded Murray State in the next round by a score of 70-60. KC Ndefo led them with 17 points and 10 rebounds, with Doug Edert the only other scorer in double figures with 13. They may be a 15 seed, but they’ve played well through the first two games of the tournament and have been outplaying their opponents on both ends of the floor.
Key to the Game: Can Saint Peter’s slow down Purdue’s offense? Purdue has been very good offensively and Saint Peter’s cannot afford to let the Boilermakers get into a rhythm offensively. Shaheen Holloway’s bunch run some really good offense that could possibly pull the Purdue bigs outside and take advantage of backdoor cuts to get easy looks, but if they don’t severely limit Purdue’s looks on the other end, it won’t much matter. It will be a challenge as well for St. Peter’s to keep Trevion Williams and Zach Edey off the offensive boards, and if they can’t do that, it will be extremely difficult for them to keep up with Purdue on the scoreboard.
Matchup to watch: Hassan Drame and Fousseyni Drame vs. Zach Edey and Trevion Williams
While it’s the guards that get a lot of the attention for these two teams (Ivey for his skill and NBA potential, Edert for his facial hair), this game could very well come down to what happens in the paint. The Peacocks don’t have a lot of depth inside, so they depend heavily on the Drame brothers. Through two games, the Drames have a combined 16 fouls. If they get in foul trouble against Purdue, Saint Peter’s could be in for a long night. Like the Drames, Purdue’s two bigs are split up, with Edey starting and Williams coming off the bench. This allows them to always have a talented big man in the game, and that could put some real pressure on Saint Peter’s on the interior.
Bottom Line: Saint Peter’s has had a phenomenal run that next to nobody saw coming. Shaheen Holloway has been the breakout coaching star of this tourney, and he has his players playing at a very high level on both ends of the court. They play together and play excellent fundamental basketball. With that said, it will be a cold day in Hades before I pick a 15 seed to advance to the Elite Eight. Purdue simply has too much height for Saint Peter’s to match up with and should pound them on the boards. It’s been a magical run for the Peacocks, and one that people will talk about for years, but look for the Saint Peter’s bigmen to get into early foul trouble, and Purdue will ride Zach Edey and Trevion Williams to a win by double digits.
