Final Four Preview

    Written by: William Petersen •

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    Final Four

    After a wild four rounds of the fabled March Madness tournament, the 85th rendition of the historic Final Four will be headlined by the defending champion UConn Huskies who are making their second straight appearance in the Final Four after winning the East region. The Huskies will face the Alabama Crimson Tide who are making their first Final Four appearance in program history after winning the West region. The Purdue Boilermakers finally got the monkey off their back after winning the Midwest region, their first appearance since 1980. Purdue will face the NC State Wolfpack who have been dubbed “America’s Team” after winning nine straight games, dating back to the ACC Tournament, thanks to graduate senior DJ Burns Jr. incredible run, getting the 11 seeded Wolfpack back to the Final Four for the first time since 1983 when the Wolfpack won it all with Jim Valvano as head coach. These Final Four matchups take us back in time as each of these two heavyweight matchups will be dictated by defense and the matchups between big men in the paint on Saturday night.

    11 NC State v. 1 Purdue

    6:09 PM ET on TBS

    The North Carolina State Wolfpack have been one of if not the hottest team in college basketball over the past month and half after winning nine straight games to keep their Cinderella run alive. The Wolfpack play a gritty and physical brand of basketball that is headlined by DJ Burns Jr, the 6’9” 275 lbs graduate senior who is a force down low. Burns Jr. has phenomenal footwork for such a large frame and has a lethal left hand if you give him space around the rim. Burns Jr. loves to bang bodies down low and will need to utilize this skill early against 7’4” AP Player of the Year Zach Edey in order to have any chance of beating Purdue. Zach Edey uses his size and length to dominate both the offensive and defensive glass as well as efficient post play which led to Edey putting up a 40 point and 16 rebound stat line on 13/21 shooting against a solid 2 seed Tennessee squad in the Elite 8. If Edey can find position down low, Burns Jr. will have a hard time moving Purdue’s star out of the lane without getting into foul trouble. If Burns Jr. gets into foul trouble early, it could be a long night for the Wolfpack as they lack size compared to Purdue. I expect Purdue to come in and focus on getting Edey going early and an eventual double digit victory for a Boilermaker squad that has looked like a team of destiny for the majority of the season. The Wolfpack will have to try and dictate the pace and physicality of play early and often if they want any chance of making it back to their first National Championship since 1983.

    4 Alabama v. 1 UConn

    8:49 ET on TBS

    The Alabama Crimson Tide have been somewhat of an offensive powerhouse all season after finishing second in the KenPom ratings. The Crimson Tide are led by star guard Mark Sears who has been deadly from behind the arc this tournament, especially in their win over 6 seed Clemson in the Elite 8, scoring 23 points on 7/14 shooting from behind the arc. Alabama will have to have the best shooting performance of the season as they face a UConn Huskies squad who finished the regular season ranked eleventh in overall defense in the KenPom rankings. UConn is highlighted by 7’2” star center Donovan Clingan, who pounded Illinois inside for 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 25 point blowout win in the Elite 8. Clingan’s presence on offense is equally complemented on defense, which helped the Huskies hold the Fighting Illini to no points for almost an hour of real time before making their second straight appearance to the Final Four. UConn has been the favorite to win the tournament from the beginning and it is hard to argue against this after UConn has won every game in the past two tournaments by at least 12 points. The Huskies have been the juggernaut of college basketball all season and it would take either a severe hiccup from the Huskies or the game of Alabama’s life to prevent the Huskies from going to back-to-back National Championship games. I expect head coach Dan Hurley to have his Huskies dialed in and punch this Alabama team in the mouth early with stingy defense and efficient scoring either through Clingan or beyond the arc. Alabama will need Mark Sears to hit some early threes to give the Crimson Tide any sort of momentum in a game that will need to be nearly mistake free from Nate Oates’s go to play maker. I predict the Huskies to win by at least 10 but do not expect them to blow out the Tide like they have every other team this tournament.

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