Houston, Illinois carry strong opening-weekend efficiency in March Madness into Sweet 16 collision
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4:45 PM on Monday, March 23
By AARON BEARD
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson wanted his Cougars simply to stick to what they do best in defending with their typical toughness to open March Madness. Illinois coach Brad Underwood hoped his team would “just let it rip."
They got what they wanted in the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament while posting the two most lopsided scoring margins of any teams to advance to the Sweet 16. Now they will try those very different approaches against one another in a Thursday clash in Houston.
The second-seeded Cougars — who played in last year's national-title game — rolled to 31-point wins against both Idaho and Texas A&M. That came while allowing just 0.839 points per possession (104 points on 124 possessions).
“Everybody’s got a style,” coach Kelvin Sampson said after the 88-57 win against the Aggies. “We have a style. Texas A&M has a style, but it doesn’t come down to what you are doing vs. them. It’s how you do what you do.”
Houston allowed the Vandals and Aggies to score on just 37.1% of their possessions, with those teams shooting a combined 31.5% while making 12 of 54 3-pointers (22.2%).
The third-seeded Illini had the second-largest scoring margin (plus-56) of the first weekend while averaging 1.382 points per possession (181 points on 131 possessions). Illinois scored on 60.3% of its possessions against Penn and VCU.
“We're 34 or 35 games in, whatever we're in, and there's not a lot we don't know,” Underwood said. “I'm really glad to see us — I used the term before the tournament — ‘just let it rip.’ We’ve got to play that way, and we’ve got to play loose and we’ve got to play free.”
Things figure to be tighter against the stingy Cougars and which team is the most successful doing what it does best will likely advance. Houston is a 3.5-point favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Purdue is shooting the 3-pointer better than anyone heading to the regional round so far, while Alabama continues firing from long range at a frenetic pace under Nate Oats.
The Boilermakers made 22 of 38 3-pointers in wins against Queens and Miami, good for 57.9% to lead all tournament teams. They were the only tournament team to make more than half their attempts while playing multiple games.
In all, six Sweet 16 teams shot at least 40% from 3-point range in the tournament's opening weekend, including Michigan (46.8%, 22 of 47) and Michigan State (45.7%, 21 of 46).
The Crimson Tide, meanwhile, leads all tournament teams with 31 made 3s through two rounds, at least five more than any other team. And Alabama's 78 attempted 3s were tied with 12-seed High Point — which upset Wisconsin before falling in a shootout to Arkansas — for the most in the tournament, at least eight more than any other team.
Going back to the 2001 tournament, 55 of 96 teams to reach the Final Four (57.3%) were ranked inside the top 25 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency for KenPom entering March Madness, with 21 of those ranking in the top 10 at both ends.
Slightly more than half of the remaining teams (21) ranked inside the top 10 at one end of the court to offset a ranking outside the top 25 in the other.
That leaves 20 outliers that reached the sport's final weekend without holding top-10 status in at least one category.
Looking at the three tiers of the 16 teams that will play this week:
— Six favorites entered the tournament with top-25 rankings at both ends of the floor: 1-seeds Duke, Arizona and Michigan; and 2-seeds Houston, Iowa State and Michigan State. Of that group, the Blue Devils and Wildcats were top-5 in both categories.
— Five teams ranked in the top 10 at one end of the court: 2-seed Purdue; 3-seed Illinois; and 4-seeds Alabama, Arkansas and Nebraska. The Huskers were the only one of that quintet to rank in the top 10 defensively.
— The five outliers: 2-seed UConn, 5-seed St. John's, 6-seed Tennessee; 9-seed Iowa and 11-seed Texas. The Huskies are the surprise addition in this group after flirting with earning a No. 1 seed coming down the stretch, but they entered March Madness ranked 30th in offense (122.0 points per 100 possessions) and 11th in defense (94.1).
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
