Final Four Breakdown

[logpmess]

6 North Carolina State Wolfpack – West Region
How they got here:
• Win over 11 Ball State (78-66)
• Win over 3 Oregon State (85-76)
• Win over 2 Oklahoma State (70-60)
• Win over 1 Texas A&M (64-55)
Coming into the West region as the number 6 seed, NC State had a pretty tough challenge ahead of them to get to the Final Four. Being the higher seed in only the first round, the Wolfpack beat the number 1, 2, and 3 seeds from their region with the closest margin being 9 points twice.
Key Players:
Leading Scorer: PG Henry Franklin (14.6)
Leading Rebounder: SF Jeffrey Thompson (8.7)
Leading Assister: PG Henry Franklin (4.6)
Leading Stealer: SG Larry Wilkerson (1.6)
Leading Blocker: C Elvis Osorio (1.0)
Although this team is not singularly star powered, the key player to watch here is Henry Franklin. He only leads in scoring for this team by 1.2 points per game, but it is his all-around ability that makes him the top threat. At point guard, he is also averaging 5.2 rebounds per game.

1 Houston Cougars - South Region
How they got here:
• Win over 16 Grand Canyon (56-54)
• Win over 9 Canisius (105-81)
• Win over 4 Georgia (81-80)
• Win over 2 Ohio State (78-65)
This top seeded Cougars team was challenged some throughout this tournament. The impossible almost happened with a 16 coming within one possession of Houston. In the second round, Houston’s offense exploded to a 24 point victory. In yet another nail-biter, Georgia almost made the upset losing by a single point. Finally, Houston secured the division with a double digit win.
Key Players:
Leading Scorer: SF Jerry Roby (19.4)
Leading Rebounder: Russell Gomez (8.1)
Leading Assister: PG Charlie Matthews (4.1)
Leading Stealer: PG Charlie Matthews (1.3)
Leading Blocker: C Russell Gomez (2.1)
I’m going to give the key player here to Russell Gomez, but the biggest threat is a trio of giants in the post. During the season, this team averaged 6.8 blocks per game, which is good enough for 10 nationally. As not a lot of shots that go up in the post stay there, the key to this team’s victory is constant denial of easy points in the paint.

9 Richmond Spiders – Midwest region
How they got here:
• Win over 8 Utah State (83-55)
• Win over 1 Cincinnati (76-68)
• Win over 4 Michigan State (100-96)
• Win over 2 Missouri (97-93)
Never being the higher seed in a tournament, Richmond is first ever number 9 seed to reach the final four (IRL – 2013 had Wichita State, but that’s the season we are on now). In a flurry of point scoring, Richmond averaged 89.4 points per game so far in the tournament. With the final two rounds being 4 point games, the spiders have a nice mix of blowouts and close games heading into the final four.
Key Players:
Leading Scorer: SF Herbert Shoop (16.5)
Leading Rebounder: Joseph Cronk (9.1)
Leading Assister: PG Marcus Broom (5.7)
Leading Stealer: SG Carl Flannery (1.6)
Leading Blocker: C Todd Eddington (1.9)
A true Cinderella story of this tournament, this team has caught fire offensively during the bracket. With that being said, the key player has to be Herbert Shoop. As the Atlantic 10 freshman of the year winner, Shoop is going to be vital to continue the scoring influx we have seen recently. Hopefully, the national coach of the year Taylor Hubble will be able to scheme appropriately in the final two games.

2 Syracuse Orange – East region
How they got here:
• Win over 15 Quinnipiac (85-51)
• Win over 10 Providence (69-64)
• Win over 11 Navy (77-67)
• Win over 8 Villanova (74-61)
My first take from the road to the final four is “Who is Quinnipiac?”. With the only real challenge being in the second round (5 point differential), a small worry is the lack of close games for Syracuse. Also, with upsets happening in other parts of the region, the highest seed that the Orange have faced is number 8 seed Villanova. Will this be a cause of concern, or will the easy bracket allow Syracuse the energy to
Key Players:
Leading Scorer: SG Chad Koester (14.2)
Leading Rebounder: C Ignace Spriet (6.5)
Leading Assister: PG Bruno Parent (3.8)
Leading Stealer: PG Bruno Parent (1.5)
Leading Blocker: PF Laurence Ritter (2.0)
Being the number 9th ranked defense in the nation would probably make my key player defensive focused. However, I am actually going to point to the SG combination. Clayton Medley and Chad Koester are both averaging over 14 points per game. With a staunch defense, scoring is going to be the most vital aspect of these last two games.





Predictions:
1 Houston over 6 NC State
The defensive prowess of Houston is going to get challenged with a good three point shooting team. However, I think that NC State's quest for the title is going to come to a close.
9 Richmond over 2 Syracuse
Defense wins championships. That statement is an old adage that a lot of people believe. However, I am putting this more to the lack of challenge in Syracuse up to this point. They have not been required to score more than 85 points per game yet.
9 Richmond over 1 Houston
At this point, I'm riding the tidal wave that is the spiders. I expect this to be a closer game in the 80s, but Richmond will win by 4.

[ballsohard]

Good stuff man! This is exciting to see someone writing about this!

[logpmess]

I have been having trouble accessing the college index, so this was my first successful time. In future states, could you update it to where the game information for the tournament is available heading into the final four? I couldn't get tournament stats for the players, so I had to base it off of season totals. I don't know how easy that is. Just a thought.

[IamQuailman]

Great write-up logan!

[Inner_GI]

You can claim 5 points toward your media cap.