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Arizona Wildcats vs. Seton Hall Pirates
The Arizona Wildcats, a perennial power will face the Seton Hall Pirates, which makes its first NCAA Tournament appearance in four years. The first round contest takes place at Raleigh, North Carolina. Arizona is 20-9, but lost its second round Pac-10 game to Washington, 90-85, making the Wildcats a nine seed. The Pirates are 20-9 and gained an at-large bid, after losing in the first round of the Big East Tournament to Villanova, 61-60. The teams have met twice in their history. Both games were played in the NCAA Tournament. The series is tied 1-1.
The Wildcats have a strong starting five, but have been inconsistent down the stretch and the squad is thin on the bench. Lute Olson's club leads the nation in scoring, with 87.5 points per game. Defense has been a problem throughout the season, as the Wildcats yield, 78.4 points per tilt. The Wildcats will try and use their all around quickness to run the Pirates out of the gym. 6-5 forward Hassan Adams (17.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg) plays like a big man and can make things rough on the Pirates interior defense. Channing Frye (16.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg) has struggled at times, but has a real advantage in this matchup. If Frye can maintain discipline, he could make the difference in this contest. Defensively, the two can make things difficult inside, as they have combined for 106 blocks. Andre Iguodala (12.7 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 5.0 apg) is an outstanding athlete, who loves to go to the bucket hard. Guard Salim Stoudamire is a sharp shooter, who can carry the club, when he gets hot. He is averaging 16.5 points per outing. Chris Rodgers (8.8 ppg) comes off the thin bench to provide another outside threat.
Speedy point guard Andre Barrett is one of the most underrated players in the country. The tiny sharp shooter is averaging 17.6 points per game, while handing out 5.9 assists per contest. Barrett sees the court very well and can hurt the Wildcats, if he isn't stopped up top. Power forward Kelly Whitney (13.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg) is smooth around the basket. His physical style is something the Wildcats don't like to face, as they are used to the softer West Coast style of play. Forwards Andre Sweet and Marcus Toney-El join Whitney upfront. The three are tough, but will be at a size disadvantage in this first round game. John Allen is a big guard, who can post up. The 6-5 junior is averaging 12.2 points per contest. J.R. Morris (10.0 ppg) is a solid sixth man, who comes off the pine firing. The Pirates are averaging 71.9 points per game, while allowing just 64.2.
The ninth-seeded Wildcats are 12-16 ATS this season. They have failed to cover in five of their last six games. Olson's club will be a three point favorite. They are 10-16 ATS when favored this year. The Pirates are 15-10 ATS. They are 2-2 ATS as an underdog.
UAB Blazers vs. Washington Huskies
The UAB Blazers and Washington Huskies will meet for the first-ever time, as they get together in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament's St. Louis Region. The Nationwide Arena at Columbus, Ohio will be the venue for the 20-9 Blazers and 19-11 Huskies. The Blazers are the ninth seed and come out of Conference USA with an at-large bid, after their second round overtime loss to DePaul, 75-74. The eighth-seeded Huskies, which have won nine of their last 11 games gained an at-large bid after taking losing to Stanford, 77-66 in the Pac-10 Championship. The Blazers, which are making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament, since 1999 are 41-22 under second year head coach Mike Anderson.
Anderson's team can score, defend and are extremely careful with the basketball. Although they have no big scorers, the Blazers are averaging just under 75 points per game. 5-11 senior Morris Finley paces the club with 13.5 points per game and can get hot, as evidenced by his career-high 38 points earlier this season. Forward Gabe Kennedy is a big body and the squads best inside threat. Sophomore Demario Eddins, along with senior Sidney Ball and juniors Ronell and Donell Taylor give the Blazers fine depth on the wing, a place where the Huskies can be exposed. With all the Blazers solid players, the one who makes everything run correctly is tiny 5-9 sophomore Carldell Johnson. The youngster is a throw back point guard, who looks to pass instead of shoot. He is handing out 4.2 assists per game, while scoring just 4.5 points per contest. The most impressive number is his 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Johnson has turned the ball over a mere 29 times, while logging 688 minutes.
The Huskies feature a starting five, which averages double figures in scoring. Overall, the team is averaging 81.4 points per game. Brandon Roy and fellow forward Bobby Jones do most of the interior scoring. 5-9 burner, Nate Robinson can break down a defense and penetrate to score, dump off or kick out. It's rare, Robinson gets to go against someone his own size, but that will be the case, as he matches up with Johnson. Will Conroy is another decent scorer and leads the team in assists with 4.6 pg. 6-5 swingman Tre Simmons and 6-8 reserve Mike Jensen are streaky shooters, who can turn things on quickly. Hakeem Rollins doesn't supply much scoring or rebounding, but he's the teams best shot blocker. Defense has been a concern all season, as the Huskies don't seem very interested in playing it. They are yielding 85.0 points per tilt.
The Blazers are a slight underdog in this meeting. They are 6-3 ATS in that situation. Overall, the Blazers are 16-11 ATS. The Huskies are 18-12 ATS and have covered in seven of their last eight games. They have split their 14 games ATS as a favorite.
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