NCAA Tournament West Region: Team-by-team breakdown

Right here’s a have a look at the West Area of the NCAA Event as March Insanity 2022 will get set to tip off Thursday:

No. 1 Gonzaga (26-3) 

Convention: WCC 

Coach: Mark Few 

Submit-ing up: The Zags have adopted up an undefeated common season and journey to the NCAA Event title recreation final yr with extra understated dominance. The Bulldogs are led by 7-footer Chet Holmgren, a possible No. 1 decide, and junior ahead Drew Timme, however anybody of their beginning 5 can carry probably the most high-powered offense within the nation as they search their first nationwide championship.

Gonzaga forward Drew Timme celebrates his basket during the second half of an NCAA basketball game against Santa Clara, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in Spokane, Wash.
Drew Timme
AP/Younger Kwak

No. 16 Georgia State (18-10) 

Convention: Solar Belt 

Coach: Rob Lanier 

Submit-ing up: The Panthers’ opportunistic protection fuels their offense. They pressure 16.5 turnovers per recreation, the Fifteenth-most within the nation, and provides it up lower than 12 occasions per contest. 4 gamers common at the least 1.4 steals per recreation, led by senior guard Kane Williams (1.8). Watch your again pocket in opposition to them.

No. 8 Boise State (27-7) 

Convention: Mountain West 

Coach: Leon Rice 

Submit-ing up: The Broncos, MWC regular-season and match champs, are again within the NCAAs for the primary time since 2015. They possess a balanced scoring assault, with 4 gamers averaging double digits, led by senior ahead Abu Kigab. Boise State additionally posted the nation’s 14th-best scoring protection, holding opponents to 61.0 factors per recreation.

No. 9 Memphis (21-10) 

Convention: American 

Coach: Penny Hardaway 

Submit-ing up: Memphis closed the common season with 10 wins in 11 video games, together with two dominant victories over Houston, to play its method into the sector. Projected lottery decide Jalen Duren is a pressure within the paint, anchoring an enhancing protection, and guards Lester Quinones and Landers Nolley II have been extra constant of late.


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No. 5 UConn (23-9) 

Convention: Massive East 

Coach: Dan Hurley 

Submit-ing up: After dropping star James Bouknight from final yr’s match workforce, Hurley has trusted a deep Huskies’ bench with loads of native taste. Standout grad pupil R.J. Cole, their main scorer (15.7 ppg), is from Union, N.J., whereas guard Andre Jackson is from Albany Academy and guard Jalen Gaffney hails from Columbus, N.J.

No. 12 New Mexico State (26-6) 

Convention: Western Athletic 

Coach: Chris Jans 

Submit-ing up: Former West Virginia and Nebraska guard Teddy Allen discovered a house at New Mexico State and blossomed, averaging 19.3 factors and 6.8 rebounds a recreation, main the Aggies to the WAC regular-season and postseason titles. He’s joined within the backcourt by Sir’Jabari Rice, a flexible junior guard with an all-tournament title who additionally averages double figures.

Arkansas' JD Notae reacts to blocking a shot in the second half of a game against Kentucky at Bud Walton Arena on Feb. 26, 2022 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
JD Notae
Getty Photos/Wesley Hitt

No. 4 Arkansas (25-8) 

Convention: SEC 

Coach: Eric Musselman 

Submit-ing up: The Razorbacks misplaced guard Moses Moody from final yr’s Elite Eight workforce, however senior JD Notae — a Jacksonville switch — has stepped into the limelight because the workforce’s star. The speedy, 6-foot-1 playmaker leads Arkansas in factors (18.4), assists (3.7) and steals (2.2) and carries all of the hopes for a deep March run.

No. 13 Vermont (28-5) 

Convention: America East 

Coach: John Becker 

Submit-ing up: The Catamounts performed Windfall powerful on the street and knocked off Patriot League champion Colgate. With an offense ranked within the prime 50 in effectivity, Vermont might be a classy upset selection, particularly after it beat its three America East Event opponents by a mixed 110 factors. 

No. 6 Alabama (19-13) 

Convention: SEC 

Coach: Nate Oats 

Submit-ing up: Few groups chuck from the 3-point line greater than the Crimson Tide, and so they have lived extra usually than they've died with their leap photographs regardless of their 30.8 % mark from deep rating 304th within the nation. Junior guard Jaden Shackelford is the workforce’s chief and prime scorer (16.7 ppg), averaging greater than eight 3s tried per recreation.

No. 11 Rutgers

Rutgers guard Ron Harper Jr. reacts after the Scarlet Knights were selected for the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday.
Rutgers guard Ron Harper Jr. reacts after the Scarlet Knights have been chosen for the NCAA Event on Choice Sunday.
Noah Okay. Murray/New York Submit

Convention: Massive Ten 

Coach: Steve Pikiell 

Submit-ing up: The Scarlet Knights acquired off to a tough begin (together with losses to Lafayette and UMass) however have was one of many extra harmful groups to observe with their gritty fashion of play. Behind senior guards Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker, they knocked off 5 ranked groups within the common season, together with then-No. 1 Purdue on a Harper buzzer-beater.

No. 11 Notre Dame (22-10) 

Convention: ACC 

Coach: Mike Brey 

Submit-ing up: The Combating Irish put collectively one in all their greatest common seasons in convention play since becoming a member of the ACC, serving to seize their first NCAA berth in 5 years. Freshman guard Blake Wesley, enjoying for his hometown workforce, leads the way in which as a possible one-and-done whereas Dane Goodwin is among the nation’s prime sharpshooters from deep.

No. 3 Texas Tech (25-9) 

Texas Tech guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) reacts after a play against Kansas in the second half at T-Mobile Center.
Terrence Shannon Jr.
Amy Kontras/USA TODAY Sports activities

Convention: Massive 12 

Coach: Mark Adams 

Submit-ing up: In his first yr as Texas Tech head coach, Adams, a former Chris Beard assistant, has introduced a defensive focus that has supplied a real id. The Pink Raiders may not be probably the most enjoyable to observe due to their suffocating protection that ranks seventh nationally (59.9 ppg), however the hard-nosed fashion has introduced them this far.

No. 14 Montana State (27-7) 

Convention: Massive Sky 

Coach: Danny Sprinkle 

Submit-ing up: Making their fourth match look, and first since 1995, the Bobcats are coming off their greatest common season in practically a century. Expertise is a significant component of their success. That is the second yr prime scorers Xavier Bishop, Jubrile Belo and Amin Adamu have performed collectively, and the third season for Belo and Adamu.

No. 7 Michigan State (22-12) 

Convention: Massive Ten 

Coach: Tom Izzo 

Submit-ing up: After barely moving into the sector final yr, and dropping within the First 4, the Spartans are again for his or her twenty fourth straight match. Izzo’s squad doesn’t have a game-breaker — main scorer Gabe Brown has proved to be cold and hot and averages simply 11.4 ppg — however they've depth and are one of many higher 3-point taking pictures groups within the nation.

No. 10 Davidson (27-6) 

Convention: Atlantic 10 

Coach: Bob McKillop 

Submit-ing up: After selecting up a non-conference win over Alabama, the Flyers went 15-3 in convention play and their three losses got here by a mixed 15 factors. They've a pair of worldwide gamers main the way in which in A-10 Participant of the 12 months Luka Brajkovic (Austria) and Hyunjung Lee (South Korea), and rank eighth in 3-point taking pictures share (38.7).

No. 2 Duke (28-6) 

Duke's Paolo Banchero shoots a layup during the second half of a game against North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 5, 2022 in Durham, North Carolina.
Paolo Banchero
Getty Photos/Jared C. Tilton

Convention: ACC 

Coach: Mike Krzyzewski 

Submit-ing up: Will Coach Okay get his dream ending? There definitely is sufficient expertise, with as many as 5 projected first-rounders. Freshman Paolo Banchero is probably the most hyped, however White Plains ahead AJ Griffin has emerged, whereas sweet-shooting Trevor Keels, sophomore Mark Williams and junior Wendell Moore spherical out the younger however spectacular lineup.

No. 15 Cal State Fullerton (21-10) 

Convention: Massive West 

Coach: Dedrique Taylor 

Submit-ing up: The Titans are dancing once more, and like 4 years in the past, an area star who has gone out west is main them to the occasion. In 2018, it was Brooklyn native Kyle Allman Jr. This March, it's E.J. Anosike of East Orange, N.J., a multi-dimensional ahead who's Cal State Fullerton’s prime scorer (16.5) and rebounder (8.3), and one in all its prime playmakers.

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