The Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament takes place tonight as the Arizona Wildcats take on the Wisconsin Badgers, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The game has a start time of 8:45 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TBS. Vegas odds have the Wildcats listed as 3 point favorites, while the total sits at 132.
Stat Pack: The Wisconsin Badgers got to the Elite 8 by beating American, Oregon and Baylor. The Badgers now come in at 29-7 for the year overall and 7-1 on neutral courts. The Badgers bring in the highest scoring offense in the Bo Ryan era as they average 73.8 ppg (90th) on 46.1% shooting overall (78th), 37.6% from long range (56th) and 73.9% from the charity stripe (42nd). The offense is led by Frank Kaminsky, who averages 13.7 ppg on the year, while also leading the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg). Ben Brust (13.0 ppg), Sam Dekker (12.5 ppg) and Traevon Jackson (10.7 ppg) round out the double digit scorers for the team. Defensively the Badgers are not as strong as in years past, but they still allow just 63.8 ppg, which is 38th in the nation.
The Arizona Wildcats took out Weber State in their opening round game and then followed that with wins over Gonzaga and San Diego State. This now has them at 33-4 overall and they have won 11 of their last 12 games. The Wildcats are led by an awesome defense that comes in having allowed just 58.4 ppg, which is 5th in the nation. Teams shoot just 38.0% off of them overall, which is 4th in the nation and teams hit just 31.9% of their long rang shots which is 55th in the nation. On offense, the Cats are very solid, as they come in averaging 73.1 ppg on 47.1% shooting (38th). Nick Johnson leads the offense with 16.3 ppg, while Aaron Gordon (12.5 ppg) and Kaleb Tarczewski (10.0 ppg) average in double figures for the Cats as well. The Cats are 26th in the nation in rebounding (38.5 rpg), led by Aaron Gordon’s 7.8 rpg.
Pick: I will look to the Over in this game. Both teams play excellent defense, but these teams have also been pushing tempo this year as well and I see that as the key here. The Badgers come in averaging 73.1 ppg on the year and in their last 5 games (all on neutral courts) they have averaged a healthy 77.1 ppg. Arizona has also been solid on offense this year, as they have averaged 73.1 ppg on 47/1% shooting for the year, while on neutral courts they have put up 70.6 ppg on 48% shooting. Both teams shoot the ball very well and both are good from long range, plus Wisconsin is very solid at the FT line. This should be a tight game and OT is a possibility and with no tomorrow for the loser, so it a late FT fest. I expect at least 138 in this one.
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