Moving into the second weekend of March Madness, and with four just teams left in each bracket, who will move on in the Midwest Region Sweet 16?
2015 NCAA Tournament – Midwest Sweet 16
(1) Kentucky vs (5) West Virginia March 26, 9:45 pm (CBS) Cleveland, Ohio
What impressed me the most about Kentucky last weekend was their ability to adapt. Cincinnati gave the Wildcats everything they could handle and yet this team still overcame the task. Cincinnati played great defense, rebounded the ball well and kept the game close. Kentucky even turned the ball over a lot, but at the end of the day, the game came down to one thing: defense. I watched one of the Cincinnati guards beat Devin Booker on a drive only to be sent into the seats as both Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns HIT HANDS to reject that ball. These guys can have as many off nights on offense as they want, but at the end of the day, their defense has carried them to 36-0. What head coach John Calipari does is take All-Americans and have them check their ego at the door. These kids have bought into a defense-first team, a reason why they are the best in the nation.
However, being the best does not guarantee anything in March. West Virginia forces opponents to turn the ball over more than any other team, something analysts agree could be used to take down Kentucky. However, I think West Virginia is going to struggle to score due to the Kentucky’s size. Don’t get me wrong, I have so much respect for what head coach Bob Huggins has done with the Mountaineers this year. I think West Virginia will hang around with Kentucky (inside 10 points) for a good portion of this game, but Kentucky’s size will eventually wear on them. Kentucky will advance to the Elite Eight and keep their dreams of a perfect season alive.
(3) Notre Dame vs (7) Wichita State March 26, 7:15 pm (CBS) Cleveland, Ohio
Wichita State impressed me the most out of any team this weekend. This team had to GRIND to get their two wins over Indiana and Kansas. Indiana is very underrated, a team that can shoot the lights out and has a backcourt that can play with anyone in college basketball. Yet Wichita State adapted, played up-tempo basketball, and won the game 81-76. In the next round, Wichita State got their desired match-up against in-state rival Kansas. Wichita State played great defense and beat Kansas with quality possessions 78-65. Everyone now knows why Kansas refused to schedule Wichita State; Wichita was clearly the better team and out-hustled the Jayhawks for every loose ball.
Now the Shockers find themselves in the Sweet 16 again in a date with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Both teams are very talented, and this game could easily go either way. I think that the ability to get to the basket will be critical in this game. We all know noth teams are capable of hitting big shots: Ron Baker of Wichita State and Pat Connaughton of Notre Dame lead the offensive attack of each school respectively. However, both teams play good help defense. Whether it is Jerian Grant of Notre Dame or Fred VanVleet of Wichita State driving to the basket, somebody will need to create and get easy baskets. I don’t expect a high scoring game, but do expect the Shockers to advance narrowly because of their defense and hustle to play Kentucky in the Elite Eight.
