2015 NCAA Tournament for March 28: Who, what, where, and when

The 2015 NCAA Tournament is pared to it’s Elite Eight after last night’s game and two trips to the Final Four are up for grabs today. We did have one lower seed in Michigan State advance last night as Louisville, Duke, and Gonzaga will join them in Sunday’s battles. Today’s games are all on TBS and we should have a couple of fantastic games. Here is a look at the gametimes.

6:09PM – TBS – Wisconsin vs Arizona

8:49PM – TBS – Kentucky vs Notre Dame

WISCONSIN VS ARIZONA

Let’s start the day off with a #1 vs $2 battle that really should be a Final Four meeting. Wisconsin is gunning for their second straight trip to the Final Four. Wisconsin is led by 7-footer Frank Kaminsky and his 18.4 points and 8.1 rebounds a game, but the Badgers are not just a one man show. Sam Dekker has been on fire in the tournament and had 23 points and 10 boards against North Carolina. Nigel Hayes also averages 12.5 points and 6.4 rebounds but the Badgers are not a deep team, going with basically a 7-8 man rotation. Look for Wisconsin’s deliberate offense to eat up time and force Arizona to play defense for most of the 35 second clock. The Badgers mostly rely on their starting five for offense, but Josh gasser could be an x-factor.

Arizona lost this game last year to Wisconsin by just a point and this has been their motivating factor all season. While the Wisconsin roster has stayed mostly the same. Arizona has added super freshman Stanley Johnson and Brandon Ashley to the mix this year. Ashley sat out last years game with an injury. TJ McConnell is the best point guard in the PAC-12 and this Arizona team ranks third in defensive efficiency. In addition, the Wildcats are #6 in the nation in shooting at 48.9%. While the Wildcats are not a great 3-point shooting team, Wisconsin does allow their opponents to hit 37.4% of their treys. The key battle will be 7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski against Kaminsky. Kaminsky torched him for 28 points in last years Elite Eight.

KENTUCKY VS NOTRE DAME

If it is possible, Kentucky is playing their best basketball of the season as evidenced by their 78-39 win over West Virginia. It appears at this point that the Wildcats worst enemy may be themselves, but if the Wildcats are not focused they can lose this game. Balance is the key for Kentucky as they will throw ten bodies at you and aside from 5’9 Tyler Ulis, all are at least 6’6. This team is a defensive nightmare as their big men inside alter virtually every shot and Kentucky’s length just overwhelms you. It is notable that Kentucky beat West Virginia by 39 with Karl-Anthony Towns scoring just one point. The thought is that a lot of zone can beat Kentucky, but it has not yet. Devin Booker is a very streaky outside shooter but Aaron Harrison is probably the best clutch shooter in the tournament. The thought is that Notre Dame’s perimeter play can doom Kentucky, but opposing teams hit just 26.7% of their 3-pointers.

Notre Dame may be the best team that Kentucky has played in about four months and if they can get their outside shooting going, they may have a chance. Jerian Grant will have to have a career game to lead the upset, something in the 20 points and 10 assists range. This Notre Dame team can score and they have five players that have hit over 40 3-pointers on the season. Pat Connaughton hits 42% of his 3-pointers and he has shown that he can play some defense. 6’10 Zach Auguste will have to hold his own against Kentucky’s bigs and stay out of foul trouble. Demetrius Jackson hits 43.2% from long range and is coming off a 20 point game against Wichita State. The problem for Notre Dame is that they are not a great defensive team or a deep team. They really go seven deep and size will be a factor. Aside from Auguste, only 6’8 VJ Beachum (15 minutes a game) is the only regular player over 6’6.

Next: Matching up with Notre Dame

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