West Region Sweet Sixteen Game Breakdowns
This will be a great battle between an Oregon team that is having a historic season and the reigning national champion Duke Blue Devils. The Ducks did not play their best basketball by any means in their win over Saint Joseph's 69-64 but the Hawks had plenty to do with that on Sunday. Coach Phil Martelli had a great plan of attack to keep the tempo manageable and gave Saint Joseph's a shot to win late. Tyler Dorsey stepped big for Oregon making several key shots along with Dillon Brooks. Jordan Bell did a fantastic job of rebounding the basketball as every one of his ten rebounds was important for the Ducks. The game closing 18-6 run was another critical difference maker as no matter how explosive Oregon can be at times offensively they will need to be great defensively the rest of the way in order to get to the Final Four.
It was a tale of two halves for Duke on Saturday in their 71-64 second round victory over Yale. The Blue Devils led by Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram were lights out in the first half as they sprinted to a 48-25 lead. However, the second half was different story as the Bulldogs came storming back to make a game of it. In order for Duke to get past Oregon they are going to have to bring the defensive focus for 40 minutes. If they don't they will be blown out by the Ducks by a good 15 points. So it is going to be vital for Allen to combine with Ingram for another 50 plus point outing in order for Duke to have a shot to move on to the Elite Eight. This game should be in the balance late as long as the Ducks don't get intimidated by the tradition of Duke and get another 25 plus point performance from Dillon Brooks.
A good old fashioned former Big 12 hate fest is on tap for the other game in the West Regional at Honda Center. Oklahoma got all they wanted from VCU in the second round as they held off the Rams 85-81. Buddy Hield was outstanding for the Sooners as he scored 36 points including 29 in the second half. Another encouraging element of Sunday's win by Oklahoma was the way they responded to VCU taking a 65-63 lead late in the second half. This veteran Sooner team did not panic and found a way to get the job done.
Texas A&M added to the drama of the 2016 NCAA Tournament by rallying from 12 down with 44 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. In overtime, the Aggies stayed resilient and finally put away Northern Iowa 92-88 in double overtime thanks to 25 points from Alex Caruso. Danuel House was brilliant all weekend long as House scored 42 points in two games. It is going to be important for Texas A&M to start fast against Oklahoma and keep the pressure turned up on them all game long. The Aggies have the athletes to the battle the Sooners down to the wire if they play loose like they have been doing as the pressure us squarely on Oklahoma. The point spread is just a couple of points which is spot on as the Sooners should win by about three points over Texas A&M.
