The NCAA tournament is officially down to the last sixteen teams after a couple rounds of wild action that resulted in heart-warmings for some fans, and heart-break for others. The east region of the bracket had two of the biggest upsets, as eight-seed North Carolina State beat one-seed Villanova, and seven-seed Michigan State beat two-seed Virginia. The three and four seeds, Oklahoma and Louisville, survived their third round matchups, and both will be looking to halt the upset-minded Spartans and Wolfpack. The Sooners and Cardinals had to fight through some tough games to get to this point, and both teams are gaining momentum.
2015 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen Preview: East Region
#4 Louisville v. #8 North Carolina State —
The Sweet Sixteen has to be sweeter for these two squads, as both were considered down and out just a few weeks ago. Louisville couldn’t score, and had to dismiss one of their key starters in Chris Jones. Jones proved to be not as valuable as most thought, though. The Cardinals have been in winning ways since his dismissal, and coach Rick Pitino has found the right groove at just the right time. North Carolina State was treading water in the (loaded) ACC, and many thought they peaked too soon with wins over Duke and North Carolina in the regular season. That said, having tough games every time out proved to help the Wolfpack more than hurt them, and the win over a quality Villanova team proved that.
The game itself should be a good one, but Louisville should have the upper hand. NC State does have a good tandem in Trevor Lacey and Anthony ‘Cat’ Barber, who both have a knack for scoring in any situation. One has to worry about North Carolina State’s ability to handle Louisville’s pressure, even if the Wolfpack beat the Cardinals in their only meeting in conference play, 74-65. That game was a bad one for Louisville, who saw their two best players — Terry Rozier and Montrezl Harrell — both score just seven points. That won’t happen again, and neither will a Wolfpack win.
Prediction: Louisville Cardinals
#3 Oklahoma v. #7 Michigan State —
The last game of the round might be one of the most exciting, as it features two teams that can adapt to each other’s play styles. Oklahoma, who usually likes to push the pace, can lock down on defense when they need to, and they did in the last few minutes against Dayton. Michigan State, who usually likes to get the best shot possible, will push the ball — even after a made basket — to get some easy points when a team falls asleep on transition defense. That happened a few times against Virginia, which helped the Spartans to a big lead early in the game.
Both teams have a balanced roster, with a couple of key players running the show. For Oklahoma, Buddy Hield and Isaiah Cousins control the backcourt, and Hield — who was named the Big 12 Player of the Year — is the Sooners main man, scoring 17.6 points per game this year. Michigan State has more of a three-headed attack, but all three players bring different qualities to the Spartans. Travis Trice is the heart and soul of Tom Izzo’s bunch, and he has willed in some shots this season that have proved to be momentum building for Michigan State. Denzel Valentine, who can be erratic, but is also a superb distributor, can get very hot from the three-point line. Branden Dawson is the team’s leading rebounder (9.0 a game) and can be a huge difference maker when his motor is running.
With all this talk of players, this game will be another one that is decided by coaches, and I cannot go against this Tom Izzo team. He has them prepared once again for March, and it will show on Friday night.
Prediction: Michigan State Spartans
