The San Francisco area options 3 chalk groups and one shock (Arkansas) workforce. Florida figures to have the within observe but it surely received’t be straightforward, with a few powerful match ups awaiting them.
Candy 16 Matchup: (1) Florida vs. (4) Maryland
These two groups have taken an identical path for the reason that starting of the NCAA match. Florida defeated (16) Norfolk State with ease, successful 96-69 within the Spherical of 64 matchup on Friday. Then, they narrowly defeated (8) UConn, the back-to-back defending champions, in dramatic style, 77-75 to advance to the Candy 16. Maryland kicked issues off by coasting to an 81-49 win over (13) Grand Canyon within the Spherical of 64. Following that huge win, they took down (12) Colorado State, 72-71, on a game-winning fadeaway buzzer beater from Baltimore’s personal, freshman Derik Queen.
Now, these two high seeds will sq. off in San Francisco, CA, for a spot within the Elite 8. Each groups function nice supporting casts that may beat anyone when firing on all cylinders. Maryland’s “Crab 5” of Derik Queen, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice, Julian Reese, and Selton Miguel are all averaging north of 12 factors per sport this season, the best mark being Queen’s 16.2. However, to advance on this match, they’ll need to cease a Florida core that’s been dominant all season lengthy. Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, Will Richard and Alex Condon all report a minimum of 11 factors per sport, with Clayton Jr.’s 17.9 main the squad. It must be a troublesome battle, with the query being, which workforce can impost their will and play their model extra.
Candy 16 Matchup: (3) Texas Tech vs. (10) Arkansas
These two groups have taken on utterly completely different paths to date throughout March Insanity. Texas Tech’s motto has merely been to do its job, and so they’ve carried out simply that thus far. Each of their wins have come by double digits. First, they knocked off (14) UNC Wilmington, 82-72 within the Spherical of 64. The Pink Raiders trailed by simply 4 factors coming into the 2nd half of that sport, however Kerwin Walton’s 27 factors helped them advance to the following spherical. Then, they stopped (11) Drake from starting a Cinderella story of their very own, successful 77-64 behind 28 factors from Darrion Williams. JT Toppin bounced again with a 25-piece after solely scoring 12 factors the sport earlier than. Now, onto the workforce who may simply be this yr’s “Cinderella.”
Arkansas has discovered itself within the Candy 16 on the heels of two upset victories. Their Spherical of 64 win was towards (7) Kansas, 79-72, which was presumably one of the best sport from day 1 of the match. That matchup lived as much as the hype teaching sensible as properly, with John Calipari getting the higher of Invoice Self. Talking of out-coaching, Calipari stepped as much as the plate as soon as once more, and knocked it out of the park with a Spherical of 32 upset over (2) St. John’s and Rick Pitino. Billy Richmond III’s 16 factors helped the Razorbacks win 75-66, a sport the place they completely annoyed 2nd-team All American and St. John’s guard R.J. Luis Jr., holding him to to simply 9 factors, on 3-17 taking pictures. With that each one being mentioned, what’s stopping Coach Cal and Arkansas from taking out one other high seed? Will he lastly make it again to the Elite 8?
Prediction: Florida advances to the Remaining 4
It’s no secret that Florida has been one of the best workforce within the West area thus far. A giant cause for that has been Walter Clayton Jr., who’s scored 20+ factors in 4 consecutive video games. Following 22 factors in back-to-back video games to shut out the SEC match, he’s scored 23 in each video games to start the NCAA match. He’s additionally shot nice since March Insanity started. Within the Norfolk State sport, Clayton Jr. shot 54.5% from the sphere, 44.4% from three and 87.5% from the free-throw line. Within the UConn sport, his area objective and free-throw percentages decreased, however his three-point share elevated all the way in which to 62.5%. If he’s enjoying at that degree, Florida can beat anybody. The following greatest participant within the match for the Gators has been Alijah Martin, who scored 17 factors towards Norfolk State and 18 towards UConn. Additionally, Alex Condon gave Florida 12 factors towards Norfolk State and Will Richard gave them 15 factors towards UConn. As well as, protection has been an enormous issue for the Gators. As a workforce, they out-rebounded Norfolk State 41-28 and UConn 40-35. Florida almost misplaced to UConn; they have been tied 31-31 at halftime and even trailed late however got here again and at the moment are able to proceed stopping something of their tracks. Texas Tech is an effective workforce, however Maryland is a deeper workforce. If Florida can take out Maryland, don’t be stunned to see their dominant season proceed onto San Antonio, TX for the Remaining 4.
