NCAA Tournament 2017: One player who will dominate each region

South Region: Malik Monk, Kentucky

Monk is one of the best pure scorers there is in college basketball. As such, when he gets hot, there may not be a more unstoppable player in the country. That kind of scoring dominance from the guard spot plays well in the tournament, as one player taking over can change a game. He has already shown the ability to do that multiple times this season. Most notably, his game against the top seed in the South Region earlier this year shows what he is capable of. In their game against UNC in December, he went supernova, scoring 47 points on 8 of 12 shooting from 3. He hit the go-ahead shot late in the game as Kentucky won 103-100.

For the season, Monk has averaged 20.4 points per game on 45.7 percent shooting. He has set multiple records this year related to 30-plus point games. If he can get hot like that, it won’t take much more for Kentucky to advance. One player scoring that much for a few games in a row is hardly unsustainable, and if anyone is capable of doing so, it’s Monk. At one point in the Wildcats’ game against Georgia on January 31st, Monk went 5 of 5 on threes in a span of 4:02. That kind of performance can swing a game. If Kentucky finds itself down or holding off a comeback, a Monk hot streak could change the whole complexion of the game. If Monk comes in motivated to show out and improve his draft stock, he could be a dominant force.