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NCAA Tournament Predictions: 1. Gonzaga vs. 16. Southern
- Updated: March 17, 2013
Kelly Olynyk
1 Gonzaga (31-2, 16-0 WCC)-The top-ranked Zags enjoyed arguably the most successful season in their history, rolling through their admittedly weakened schedule and dominating the West Coast Conference. Still, Gonzaga does own wins over Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma and swept St. Mary’s in three games this season.
They’ve also got one of the best front court tandems in the country in big men Kelly Olynyk (17.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Elias Harris (14.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg). Olynyk might be one of the best players in the country, period. They’ve got a duo of speedy guards in Kevin Pangos and John Stockton’s son David, who has shown his father’s aptitude for making incredible passes that no one else on the court saw coming.
There’s a ton of pressure on this Gonzaga team to become the group that finally breaks through and reaches the Final Four.
KEY STATS:
3rd Field Goal Percentage (.504)
13th Points Per Game (77.6)
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Derick Beltran
16 Southern (23-9, 15-3 SWAC)- The Jaguars are 22-4 in their last 26 games. Since a 1-5 start, Southern has been on fire. The Jags rolled through the SWAC schedule at 15-3 and captured the tournament title by knocking off Alabama A&M and Prairie View A&M, who were a combined 14-22 inconference. They also have a dynamic duo in the backcourt. Senior guard Derick Beltran averages 15.9 points per game, while junior guard Malcolm Miller is a fraction behind him at 15.8. Those two could pose a small problem for Gonzaga’s guards in the tournament.
The Jaguars have won 7 of 8.Southern is coming in hot, with its only loss in that span on the road at Texas Southern, which we’ve already established is a pretty good basketball team.
KEY STATS:
172nd Field Goal Percentage (.434)
