Nothing can examine to the first two complete days of the NCAA Tournament, however Saturday gives an attractive slate of games with groups hoping to play in the Sweet 16.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Thursday’s complete slate of NCAA Tournament games didn’t disappoint, with two seed Arizona and 4 seed Virginia falling to Princeton and Furman, respectively.
Nothing can examine to the first two complete days of the NCAA Tournament, however Saturday gives an attractive slate of games with groups vying for a possibility to play in the Sweeet 16 subsequent weekend.
Below are 3 marquee games slated for Saturday – for extra previews and predictions take a look at the Locked on College Basketball podcast!
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1) Houston Cougars vs. 9) Auburn Tigers (7:10 PM ET on TBS)
The large query here’s the well being of All-American level guard Marcus Sasser. Sasser suffered a groin harm in the AAC semifinal in opposition to Cincinnati, and used to be held out of Houston’s loss to Memphis in the convention championship.
He began in opposition to Northern Kentucky in the first spherical however exited after reaggravating the harm – and his standing at the moment is questionable for Saturday’s night recreation in opposition to Auburn.
The Tigers regarded superb in their win over Iowa, and they are going to play Houston in Birmingham – a large house court docket merit for Bruce Pearl’s staff. Could a house crowd, plus the most probably absence of Houston’s very best participant, be sufficient for Auburn to advance to the Sweet 16?
1) Kansas Jayhawks vs. 8) Arkansas Razorbacks (5:15 PM ET on CBS)
Kansas performed Howard – who made their first NCAA Tournament since 1992 – and gained handily, even with out trainer Bill Self on the sideline.
Meanwhile the Razorbacks struggled however in the end prevailed in opposition to Illinois, putting in a amusing 2nd spherical matchup between two groups with sky-high expectancies getting into the season.
While Kansas has remained a identify danger throughout the year, the Hogs handled a season-ending harm to Trevon Brazile and a protracted absence from famous person freshman Nick Smith – resulting in an in the end disappointing common season.
Eric Musselman’s staff must have the option to include Smith and his elite playmaking into the offense, in a different way the Jayhawks will advance to the Sweet 16 with a very good probability at repeating as nationwide champions.
4) Tennessee Volunteers vs. 5) Duke Blue Devils (2:40 PM ET on CBS)
Upsets are at all times amusing, however you will not to find an excessive amount of complaining a couple of matchup between Duke and Tennessee with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16.
Tennessee is amongst the country’s maximum elite defensive groups, however they fight to shoot and are with out famous person level guard Zakai Zeigler.
It’s their loss of frontcourt period that tasks to be a larger factor in opposition to Jon Scheyer’s Duke staff, alternatively, with rookies Kyle Filipowski and Dereck Lively taking part in smartly at the moment.
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