2018 NCAA Tournament: East Region Second Round Predictions

The question most heard this morning around the water cooler? How’s your brackets? Arizona destroyed a lot of them. Even more went up in smoke with a historic upset last night. Let’s face it: this is the year that someone who just picked mascots likely has the best chance of winning.

(1)Villanova vs. (9)Alabama:

It was business as usual for Villanova against Radford. All five starters and Cosby-Roundtree were in double figures. Gillespie added nine more bench points. This is a deep and balanced team that is going to be a tough out once again.

Freshman sensation Collin Sexton was as advertised against Virginia Tech. Sexton put up 25 points, six assists, and three rebounds in the hard fought win. Perhaps more important was John Petty’s 20 off the bench.

Both Alabama and Villanova have benches and aren’t afraid to use them. Villanova uses more people, but Bama’s is arguably more potent. As far as matchups go, this is not a great one for Villanova. However, the Wildcats are good enough defensively to make Sexton give the ball up and take him out of the game.

This is going to be a really good game. Alabama is good enough to make Villanova pay for mistakes. The only problem is that Villanova doesn’t make many mistakes. This isn’t a team that can push the Wildcats around, so I do give Nova the slight advantage. The fact that the game is in Pittsburgh puts it over the top.

Pick: Villanova

(5)West Virginia vs. (13)Marshall:

Terrell Miller Jr.’s 27 points weren’t enough for Murray State to keep up with the Mountaineers. The team known for smothering defense got a huge game from Javon Carter with Sagaba Konate and Esa Ahmad dominating the inside. West Virginia will go as Carter goes.

Two words: Jon Elmore. He was better than anyone Wichita State had on the floor, which is surprising considering it seems like Conner Frankamp has been there for like six years. A poor shooting night from Landry Shamet undermined Frankamp’s outstanding night. Wichita State’s inability to stop Adjin Penava when he was in the game and Jannson Williams led to the upset. Make no mistake, this is a D’Antoni system to the core. Run. Shoot threes. Take good shots. Make free throws. Simple, right?

West Virginia’s defense doesn’t shut down the star player. They force him into difficult shots by taking away everything around him. Trae Young scored 61 points on the Mountaineers this year. Oklahoma still lost both games. Elmore will rack up his points, but West Virginia is going to dedicate themselves to stopping Penava and Burks.

Marshall played just seven players against Wichita State in a fast paced, high scoring affair. They wont be able to get away with that against the West Virginia press. I expect Marshall to come out swinging because of the little brother complex. Too bad the battle of West Virginia is decided 2,000 miles away in San Diego.

Pick: West Virginia

(3)Texas Tech vs. (6)Florida:

Wow, that Texas Tech-Stephen F. Austin game was a fun one. It was a dunk clinic for a lot of the first half. Shannon Bogues wrecked a rim for SFA on a drive from the corner. A few minutes later, Zhaire Smith did a 360 on an alley oop! Don’t believe me? Check this out!

The real story of this game was the Lumberjacks not having an answer for Keenan Evans. Evans took this game over down the stretch and led the Red Raiders to victory. This looked like the team that played so well for much of the Big 12 season.

The Bonnies tournament high was short lived. Courtney Stockard was huge in the win over UCLA, but Florida held him to 14 points, and no one else really got going for St. Bonaventure. Meanwhile, Ukrainian import Egor Koulechov dominated the inside and Jalen Hudson does what he does from the outside.

Florida is a deep team, and they are going to need it against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are freakishly athletic and underrated on defense. Smith and Evans are going to be really hard for Florida to contain. I do think that Florida is going to make this interesting, but I see Tech pulling away like the did in the first round.

Pick: Texas Tech

(2)Purdue vs. (10)Butler:

Kyle Allman scored 21 of Fullerton’s 48 points in a game that Purdue just dominated. This was the kind of performance you expect from a two seed. Carsen and Vincent Edwards had their way with Fullerton in this one. Purdue is going to need Matt Haarms to step up big with the news coming down that Isaac Haas is out for the rest of the tournament. The 7’3″ Haarms is going to be needed to be the protector that Haas was. Someone else can pick up the scoring slack. The Boilermakers have no shortage of scorers.

Kelan Martin and Kamar Baldwin put up a combined 51 points in a romp of Arkansas yesterday. The Butler defense made it hard for Arkansas to get anything going. The Razorbacks did pull close right around halftime and just after, but their inability to stop Martin and Baldwin did them in.

Let’s flash back to December 16th. On that day, Purdue beat Butler by 15 points for their first win over their in state rival in 20 years. Carsen Edwards was big in that game, but the thing that sticks out to me was Isaac Haas had 15 in that game. That is the exact margin of victory for the Boilermakers. There is a reason that Butler had their number. Now it could swing back that way without Haas in the middle.

Pick: Butler

Next: How Did I Do? Check Out My Picks From Before The Madness! (I'll give you a hint: it's not good)

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