Sweet Sixteen: Thursday Matchups

Presented without comment, the Thursday matchups

(4) Arkansas vs (1) Gonzaga

Black dots are Game Score Per 40 Minutes in the Hogs’ second round win over New Mexico St last Saturday. Lykes had a great game, but the rest of the team just did what they do. Overall this is not a super-talented Arkansas team.
Red dots are Game Score Per 40 Minutes in the Zags’ win over Memphis last Saturday. Even with Holmgren’s breakout season he grades out lower than the great Brandon Clarke. I’d pay to watch him offensive rebound. Timme was outstanding, and had to be.

(2) Villanova vs (11) Michigan

Light blue dots are the Game Score Per 40 Minutes in the Cats’ win over Ohio St last Sunday. Not a ton of high-level talent on this year’s edition, and they are hurt by Tempo Bias. Villanova typically plays slow, but this year’s edition has the parking brake on at all times.
Maize dots are Game Score Per 40 Minutes for the Wolverines in their second round win over Tennessee last Saturday. Hunter Dickinson is the most-productive Wolverine in recent memory, and had to perform well above his usual high level to beat the Vols. He had help from Brooks and Williams, while Houstan, Johns and Collins were relative saboteurs.

(3) Texas Tech vs (2) Duke

Black dots mark Game Score Per 40 Minutes for the Red Raiders in their second round win over Notre Dame on Sunday. Not a dominant performance by any means, with only Obanor and Nadolny performing better than usual. Bryson Williams is in some high-dollar NBA lottery pick company.
Black dots are Game Score Per 40 Minutes for the Blue Devils in their second round win over Michigan St on Sunday. My goodness Zion Williamson was good. Mark Williams has a boring name compared to his company in this chart, and he had a strong game vs Sparty. Paolo Banchero has been more productive than Jayson Tatum thus far.

(5) Houston vs (1) Arizona

Maroon(?) dots are Game Score Per 40 Minute values for the Cougars in their second round victory over Illinois on Sunday. Houston continues to operate in relative anonymity. Josh Carlton is the most-productive Coug in recent history and has zero buzz in NBA draft circles. Only Moore and Shead had above-norm games vs the Illini.
Blue dot is Game Score Per 40 Minutes in the Wildcats’ thrilling OT win over TCU in the second round. We went in depth in our NBK post on Monday. We’ll see if rookie coach Lloyd is null-and-void, or if he does the right thing and starts Justin Kier over Kerr Kriisa.