NCAA basketball on Saturday Night and we will see the Harvard Crimson take on the Michigan State Spartans in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, which is being played at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington. The game has a start time of 8:40 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TNT. Vegas odds have the Spartans listed as 7.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 136.5.
Stat Pack: The Harvard Crimson come in off an upset win over the Cincinnati Bearcats. The win now has Harvard at 27-4 for the year. The Crimson average a solid 73.2 ppg (101st) on 46.6% shooting overall (54th) and 38.6% shooting from long range (34th), plus they also hit 72.2% of their free throws, which is 91st. The offense is led by Wesley Saunders, who averages 13.9 ppg. Overall the Crimson has 5 players that average in double figures, making this a very balanced team. The leading rebounder on the team is Steve Moundou-Missi, who grabs 5.8 boards per game. Defensively this is once again a solid team as they come in allowing 60.4 ppg (13th) on 40.6% shooting overall (44th) and 32.1% from long range (69th).
The Michigan State Spartans had a relatively easy win vs the Delaware Blue Hens to move on to the 3rd round. The win now has the Spartans at 27-8 mark on the year. Michigan comes in averaging 75.9 ppg, which is 57th in the nation. This is a good shooting team, as they rank 31st in FG% overall (47.5%) and 21st in 3 point shooting (39.1%), but they do struggle at the FT line, hitting just 69.3% of their freebies to rank 193rd. Gary Harris leads the team in scoring at 17.1 ppg, while Adreian Payne is second at 15.8 ppg. Keith Appling (12.3 ppg) and Branden Dawson (10.4 ppg) round out the double digit scorers on the team, while Dawson leads them in rebounding 98.4 rpg). Defensively this is a solid team that allows just 65.3 ppg (59th) on just 40.0% shooting (29th).
Pick: I like the Under in this one. Michigan State has upped their tempo this year and they have been scoring more as a result, but I see this Harvard team being able to slow them down in this one. The Crimson have allowed just 60.4 ppg on the year, so they do have the defense to slow the Spartans down. Michigan State has also played solid defense this year, allowing just 65.3 ppg on 40.0% shooting for the year. Two solid defenses should keep the scoring low here.
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2014 NCAA Tournament Preview
Ken Thomson, Bryan Leonard and host Marco D'Angelo from Pregame.com give their thoughts on the upcoming NCAA Tournament.