March Madness Sweet 16 2016: One player to watch from each team

Mar 19, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Frank Mason III (0), forward Landen Lucas (33), guard Devonte' Graham (4), guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) and forward Perry Ellis (34) on the court in the second half against the Connecticut Huskies during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

17 of 17

Mar 18, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Malachi Richardson (23) reacts during the first half of the first round against the Dayton Flyers in the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Syracuse – Malachi Richardson

The other remaining double-digit seed in the Sweet 16, the Syracuse Orange are also the sixth ACC team still dancing in March Madness and will be matched up against Gonzaga in a highly intriguing matchup. Though the Bulldogs might be a double-digit seed as well, this is the Orange’s toughest matchup in the tournament to date. Subsequently, the performance of freshman Malachi Richardson for Syracuse is going to be enormous.

In the First Round win over the Dayton Flyers for Syracuse, Richardson was the star as he came to play with 21 points, four rebounds, and three assists in the resounding victory. However, the youngster came out and absolutely laid a dud in the Second Round—even as Syracuse kept rolling over a Cinderella candidate in the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.

Richardson is ridiculously talented and has the size, length, and skill to cause problems in virtually any matchup. However, Gonzaga is going to be able to attack the Syracuse zone defense in the Sweet 16 matchup with success, so the Orange will need to have all of their weapons firing at full effectiveness. Richardson is going to have be able to affect the game off of the wing if Syracuse is going to move on and if Jim Boeheim is going to continue his massive troll of college basketball as a whole.

Home/March Madness