The Sweetness

As we move into the Sweet Sixteen match-ups you have to notice the contrast of teams today’s games feature as 4 Seed Washington State takes on the overall 1 Seed North Carolina and 1 Seed UCLA tries to snuff out the Cinderella run of 12 Seed Western Kentucky. The outcome of these games has to be blurred by both the contrast of styles and the momentum each of these teams has gained.

North Carolina has absolutely mowed their opponents scoring over 200 points in their first two games, while Washington State? Well they’ve only given up 81 points total in their two games locking up Winthrop in the Second Half for only 11 points and snuffing out the run and gun style of Notre Dame. The Unstoppable Force please meet the Immovable Object.

As in most of their games Washington State will have a chance to win because of their deliberate style and suffocating defense. Even if the Cougars have reached a glass ceiling in terms of having to defend the talent of North Carolina, it’s nearly impossible to see the Heels scoring 100 when there won’t be more than 60 possessions in the game. The bottom line here is going to be where the score is located. If it’s in the fifty’s it’s Washington State’s game to win, however if North Carolina hits 70 you can bet they have the game in hand, an incredibly intriguing show down of styles.

UCLA and Western Kentucky? Well they might have more in common than you’d think. The Big Shot Cinderella (See Drake) versus the Serendipitous Goliath (See 4 of last 7 games for the Bruins). Will it be a clutch shot or a lucky break? UCLA has been the recipient of some serious love from the refs in the waning moments of games, if you want to beat the Bruins you better have a big enough lead to take out all of the factors the final 2 minutes of a game can offer.

It’s hard to draw too many conclusions about Western Kentucky since their second round game was against a 13 seed, but WKU’s buzzer beater against Drake has to be the shot of the tournament thus far, they seem like a team that can stay in games, but have they run into a defense as strong as UCLA’s? We’ll see if they’re prepared for a game closer to the 60’s.