32 NCAA Tournament First Round Quick Takes

Posted by Matt Eisenberg on March 15th, 2018

With the NCAA Tournament now just a few hours from opening tip, here are 32 quick takes for the 32 First Round games today and tomorrow.

How Will the Loss of DeAndre Hunter Affect Virginia? (USA Today Images)

  1. Virginia vs. UMBC: UMBC’s offense finished the season with an adjusted offensive efficiency ranking outside of the top 200 — good luck against Virginia!
  2. Creighton vs. Kansas State: Look for Creighton’s transition offense to test Kansas State’s porous transition defense here.
  3. Kentucky vs. Davidson: Wildcats vs. Wildcats — Davidson was only one of two teams this season to shoot better than 55 percent on two-point attempts against Virginia. Will Kentucky be focused for the entire 40 minutes of this one?
  4. Arizona vs. Buffalo: Arizona ranks fourth nationally in points per possession in post-up situations while Buffalo comes into this game ranked outside of the top 250 in the same metric — definitely not the right formula to stop Mr. Ayton.
  5. Miami (FL) vs. Loyola-Chicago: To beat Miami (FL), Loyola-Chicago will need to replicate its defensive performance of forcing Florida to shoot 2-of-19 behind the arc.
  6. Tennessee vs. Wright State: If Wright State big man Loudon Love stays out of foul trouble, he could grab enough rebounds against the Volunteers to give Wright State a reasonable chance at an upset.
  7. Nevada vs. Texas: Nevada’s plethora of 6’7″ players will try to stretch out the Texas defense, but will that be enough to neutralize the Mo Bamba effect?
  8. Cincinnati vs. Georgia State: While D’Marcus Simonds is playing the R.J. Hunter role for this version of Georgia State, do not expect to see Cincinnati play the role of Baylor. Read the rest of this entry »
Share this story