They often struggle making perimeter shots, but point guard Marcus Paige is healthy, and they dominate inside behind Brice Johnson.
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But the Lady Vols still have reason for hope. Can Stony Brook scare Kentucky? Wayne Selden Jr. also posted some notable numbers, registering 13.3 points on 47.4 percent shooting, as did Frank Mason III, who chipped in 13.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists a night.
There were six No. 1s this season one off the record set in 1982-83 and Kansas’ five weeks were the most on top.
That gave automatic spots to bubble teams (or less) such as Fresno State, Gonzaga and CT, while squeezing out a few spots bubble spots – even though there were two more available this season because Louisville (and Rick Pitino) and SMU (and Larry Brown) are both ineligible.
You can also make a case that the Spartans should be over Virginia.
Kansas is the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, but the South Region looks to be the toughest overall.
The Jayhawks earned the honor in part through an 81-71 victory in the Big 12 Tournament final over West Virginia this past Saturday, adding the Big 12 Conference tournament trophy to their 2015-16 regular season Big 12 Championship, the Jayhawks’ 12th consecutive conference season title. Villanova is becoming known for early exits.
The top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks are taking on the Austin Peay Governors on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament. Senior gunslinger Ryan Arcidiacono has one more chance to change that.
However, Austin Peay won eight of its last 10 games to finish the season with a vengeance. They’re champions of the American Athletic Conference, a No. 9 seed (they were a No. 7 in 2014) and will open against Colorado, with a possible meeting against Kansas up next. The game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on TNT. Think Tom Izzo and the Spartans are motivated? They will survive all the way to the Final Four. It would be fun to see Valentine go up against Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon, the ACC player of the year who is averaging 18.7 points per game. North Carolina was forced to play out of its comfort zone due to the Cavaliers’ smothering defense, but it found a way to win and passed the selection committee’s eye test in the process. The victor of that game will face either No. 8 Texas Tech or No. 9 Butler in the round of 32.
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First and Second Rounds: March 17, 19 at Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa; PNC Arena, Raleigh, N.C.; Pepsi Coliseum, Denver; Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, R.I.; March 18, 20 at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Scottrade Center, St. Louis; Chesapeake Energy Center, Oklahoma City; Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Wash. “Have we played our best basketball throughout the whole year?” How far the second-seeded Sooners go depends on how often they hit their 3-pointers. “We definitely have the team to do it. It’ll be tough, but we’ve been battle-tested”. There’s nothing too impressive about their out of conference schedule, but they lost just three times in the Big 12 (all on the road), beat Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas away from home and haven’t lost a game since January, while looking more than convincing in the Big 12 tournament.
