The first two rounds had just a little bit of everything, from stunning upsets (sorry Lousiville and St. John’s) to expected blowouts, (see: UConn and Duke), and everything in between, making this year’s tournament a memorable one already.
Check out the previews below for the third round matchups for Sat. March 19.
East Region
No. 4 Kentucky (-3.5) vs. No. 5 West Virginia
St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa Florida. 12:15 pm.
One thing to watch: Kentucky looked shaky against Princeton, narrowly escaping with a 59-57 victory, while West Virginia defeated Clemson 84-76, somewhat handily.
West Region
No. 3 Connecticut (-3) vs. No. 6 Cincinnati
Verizon Center, Washington D.C., 9:40 pm.
One thing to watch: Cardiac Kemba. Kemba Walker is the spark plug to Connecticut’s offense, and if his performance during the Big East Tournament wasn’t enough, he put up a near-triple-double in UConn’s second round game.
No. 2 San Diego State (-6) vs. No. 7 Temple
McKale Center, Tuscon, Arizona, 6:40 pm.
One thing to watch: San Diego State didn’t have much trouble in their first round game, cruising to a 68-50 win, while Temple relied on a buzzer-beater to advance to the third round. San Diego State will have their first real test in the tournament Saturday.
Southwest
No. 13 Morehead State (-3.5) vs. No. 12 Richmond
Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado, 5:15 pm.
One thing to watch: Morehead State shocked the world by toppling Louisville with some late-game drama, and they face off against their Cinderella counterpart in Richmond Saturday. Richmond hopes that they can catch one more opponent in their web this tournament.
Southeast
No. 1 Pittsburgh (-8) vs. No. 8 Butler
Verizon Center, Washington D.C., 7:10 pm.
One thing to watch: Does Butler have another deep, unexpected run to the Final Four left in the tank? Will Matt Howard bring back his lucky moustache? All these questions and more will be answered when the Bulldogs try to upset the heavily favored Panthers.
No. 4 Wisconsin (-2.5) vs. No. 5 Kansas State
Mckale Center, Tuscon, Arizona, 8:40 pm.
One thing to watch: Wisconsin handily defeated Belmont in their second round game, while Kansas State had a more difficult time, needing a late-game comeback to topple Utah State. Wisconsin appears to be back on track, after a lackluster finish to their regular season.
No. 11 Gonzaga (-2) vs. No. 3 BYU
Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado, 7:45 pm.
One thing to watch: Jimmer Fredette. Is there anything else to watch? The sensational senior scored 32 points in BYU’s second-round win against Wofford, while Gonzaga took out dark horse St. John’s. A lack of rebounding could be a problem for BYU, however, as Brandon Davies absence looms.
No. 2 Florida (-5) vs. No. 7 UCLA
St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida, 2:45 pm.
One thing to watch: UCLA escaped a furious comeback effort by Michigan State that saw the Spartans score 52 points in the second half of the second round game. Florida took care of business like a No. 2 seed should, and defeated Santa Barbara easily.
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