Men's NCAA Tournament East Region 2nd Round Breakdowns
Yes, we know you’re used to seeing these called first and second-round games, but the advent of the “First Four” has turned these games into second-round matchups. Eight games are set for three sites on Thursday and Friday, with the winners moving on to Saturday and Sunday’s third-round games.
Here is a game-by-game look at each of the matchups in the second round.
#1 Syracuse vs. #16 UNC-Asheville (3:10 p.m. Thursday at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
The top seed and top team in the Big East Conference faces the Big South Conference champion in this opener. Syracuse (31-2) has beaten Florida, Marquette, Georgetown and Louisville this season and also has impressive victories against Connecticut and North Carolina State. The Orange’s two losses came to Notre Dame and Cincinnati, both of which have high tournament seeds. Kris Joseph leads Syracuse at 13.8 points per game and Dion Waiters averages 12.6 per contest. The rebounding of Fab Melo and C.J. Fair, who combine for over 11 boards a contest, is also huge. Syracuse possesses an offense capable of 74.6 points per game and a defense that allows 60.4 points per game, both of which are in the top 40 nationally. UNC-Asheville (24-9) has one of the nation’s best offenses, fifth at 81.2 points per game, but its 71.3 per game scoring defense is seventh-ranked in its own conference. Matt Dickey, the Big South’s player of the year at 16.5 points per game, guides the Bulldogs. UNC-Asheville is a dangerous team, having lost to Connecticut by 10 points and to Tennessee by four points, and it enters tournament play with a five-game winning streak.
#2 Ohio State vs. #15 Loyola (MD) (9:50 p.m. Thursday at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Ohio State may have lost to Michigan State in the Big Ten Conference finals, but the Buckeyes are ready to face the champions of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Ohio State (27-7) is led by Jared Sullinger’s near double-double of 17.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game leads the Buckeyes, and Deshaun Thomas has 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Ohio State, which has the 12th-best shooting percentage (48.6) in Division I, ran into some problems in the final minutes against Michigan State, but they should have little trouble against Loyola (24-8), which finished second in the MAAC regular season but beat Fairfield in the tournament finals. After only losing twice to Kansas and Indiana before the new year, Ohio State ran into trouble near the end of the season and fell to Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin. Loyola is led by Erik Etherly’s 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, but its highest offensive stat (35.3 rebounds per game) only qualifies for 124th in the country. Loyola’s one venture outside the comfort zone, into ranked territory, resulted in an 87-63 thumping by Kentucky. This game should be similar and the Buckeyes should have little trouble moving on to round three.
#3 Florida State vs. #14 St. Bonaventure (2:45 p.m. Friday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee)
This game features a pair of teams that finished third in their respective regular seasons but won the conference tournament. Florida State (24-9) is a pretty dangerous team, having captured the Atlantic Coast Conference title by beating Duke 62-59 in the semifinals and North Carolina 85-82 in the championship game. The Seminoles’ losses include tournament teams like Harvard, Connecticut and Michigan State, but there is an embarrassing loss to Boston College, the team that finished last in the ACC. Still, Florida State has a five-game winning streak keyed by Michael Snaer (14.4 points per game) and Bernard James (8.2 rebounds per game). St. Bonaventure (20-11) finished third in the Atlantic 10 Conference but ran the table with wins over St. Joseph’s, Massachusetts and Xavier in the tournament. Andrew Nicholson paces the Bonnies at 18.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Although St. Bonaventure averages just over 65 points per game in scoring defense, this game should not be a challenge for Florida State. The Seminoles have proven they can knock off the elites in the ACC and unless Snaer, James and pretty much everyone else have bad days this 3-14 matchup should be an easy advance for the Noles.
#4 Wisconsin vs. #13 Montana (2:10 p.m. Thursday at The Pit in Albuqerque, New Mexico)
Big Ten meets Big Sky in neutral territory in a matchup that pits (no pun intended) one of the nation’s best scoring defenses against an above-average offense. Wisconsin (24-9) placed fourth in the Big Ten during the regular season before losing to Michigan State, 65-52, in the semifinals. The fact the Badgers allow just 52.9 points per game could hinder Montana’s offense, which only finished fifth in its own league at 70.6 points per game (68th in the nation). The biggest danger for Wisconsin is its below-average offense, which ranks a paltry 263rd in the nation at 63.9 points per game. Jordan Taylor leads the way at 14.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Most of Wisconsin’s losses have been against tougher Big Ten competition like Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State, but two losses to 17-16 Iowa are a pretty big blemish on an otherwise-good record. Montana (25-6) won the Big Sky regular season and conference tournament as Will Cherry led the way at 16.0 points and 3.4 assists per game. Montana has only one loss since the calendar turned to 2012, a 16-point loss against Weber State. If the Wisconsin team that lost twice to Iowa shows up, this game could be dangerous. Otherwise, Wisconsin should reach round three.
#5 Vanderbilt vs. #12 Harvard (4:40 p.m. Thursday at The Pit in Albuqerque, New Mexico)
A dangerous Vanderbilt squad, which won the Southeastern Conference championship for the first time since 1951, faces the Ivy League champions in this second-round matchup. Vanderbilt (24-10) finished tied for second with Florida and Tennessee in the SEC before knocking out back-to-back wins against Georgia, Ole Miss and Kentucky in the tournament. The Kentucky victory erased two losses to the Wildcats earlier in the season. Vanderbilt beat Florida and Marquette in the regular season behind the explosive offense of John Jenkins (20 points per game) and Jeffery Taylor (16.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game). The most embarrassing loss Vanderbilt had this year came against Arkansas, 82-74, but the Razorbacks still finished 18-14 this season. Harvard is under the coaching leadership of former Duke disciple and ex-Michigan coach Tommy Amaker, who appears to finally have found his niche after years of searching. This is Harvard’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1946, and the Crimson made it there largely on the strength of 46.7 percent field-goal shooting (44th in the nation). Kyle Casey scored 11.3 points to go with 5.5 rebounds per game and Keith Wright was at 10.7 points and 8.1 rebounds. The question here is will Harvard have enough strength to reach the third round, and although everyone would love a sentimental upset Vanderbilt has too much gas in the tank.
#6 Cincinnati vs. #11 Texas (12:15 p.m. Friday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee)
One of the Big East’s stronger teams goes up against the Big 12 in a potentially dangerous game for both teams. Cincinnati and Texas finished far down in their respective conferences but made a splash at the league tournaments. Cincinnati (24-10) finished fourth in the Big East in a tie with Georgetown and South Florida, but the Bearcats nearly ran the table in the Big East tournament with wins over Georgetown and Syracuse before Louisville ended the Cincinnati run with a 50-44 victory. Sean Kilpatrick leads the Cincinnati offense at 14.3 points per game, but the overall offense (68.5 per game) is about halfway down the pack in Division I. Texas (20-13) finished sixth in the Big 12, beat Iowa State in the conference quarterfinals and lost to Missouri in the semifinals. J’Covan Brown’s 20.1 points per game led the way for the Longhorns. Although Texas lost to North Carolina by 19 points and Missouri by 11 points in two of the games this season, Texas also lost to Baylor by five points twice and to Missouri by one. The fact Texas has the nation’s 58th-best scoring offense (73.1) and came close to knocking off so many Big 12 teams makes this game a toss-up. Don’t be surprised if Texas moves on here.
#7 Gonzaga vs. #10 West Virginia (7:20 p.m. Thursday at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
The most interesting of the second-round matchups takes place here as the West Coast Conference goes up against the Big East in a potential trap game for Gonzaga. It used to be the Bulldogs (25-6) who would knock off top teams with regularity in the NCAA tournament, but the WCC has caught up with Gonzaga. Gonzaga wasn’t even the best team in its own conference; that honor went to Saint Mary’s, which beat Gonzaga in the regular season and 78-74 in the conference tournament. Kevin Pangos (13.8 points, 3.4 assists) and Elias Harris (13.1 points, 8.7 rebounds) led the way for Gonzaga, which had a 74.0 scoring average (44th in the country) to go with bigger wins over Xavier and Saint Mary’s in the regular season. West Virginia (19-13) finished eighth in the Big East and lost to Connecticut, 71-67, in second-round Big East tournament action. The team of Kevin Jones and Darryl Bryant combine for over 37 points per game, and that’s enabled the Mountaineers to hold their own. West Virginia lost to Baylor by two points, to Connecticut by seven and four, to Syracuse by two, to Louisville by three and to Notre Dame by four. Bracket alert: I call the upset here, if it even is one. Both of these teams are good, but West Virginia might have more power.
#8 Kansas State vs. #9 Southern Miss (12:40 p.m. Thursday at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
The Big 12 goes up against Conference USA in this second-round game, with the big question revolving around which Kansas State team shows up. Will it be the Wildcat squad that lost to lower-ranked Oklahoma by three points or the one that beat Baylor and Missouri toward the end of the regular season? Kansas State (21-10) finished fifth in the Big 12 and lost 82-74 to Baylor in the conference quarterfinals. Rodney McGruder’s 15.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game led Kansas State. Southern Miss (25-8) finished second in Conference USA, two games behind Memphis, but it lost 73-62 to Marshall in the C-USA semifinals. Southern Miss’ 41.6 percent shooting mark is about two-thirds of the way down in the Division I standings, and that could pose a problem for a team that wants to get past the second round and make some noise. Neil Watson’s 12.2 points per game paced Southern Miss during the regular season. The biggest early-season news for the Golden Eagles was a double-overtime loss to Murray State. Otherwise, Southern Miss just has not faced the same difficult schedule that K-State has, and that means the Wildcats should move on to round three.
