A Look at the NCAA Tournament Games in Portland

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

GoLocalPDX Sports Team

The NCAA Tournament is about to get under way and there are four first round games being held in Portland, all of which are being held on Thursday, March 19. The first day of the tournament. 

Here is a preview of the four games. 

West Region

2 Arizona vs. 15 Texas Southern - 11:20 a.m. 

Arizona comes in as a two seed and is one of the best teams in the country and a lot of peoples picks to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats are coming off an 80-52 win  over the Oregon Ducks in Pac-12 Championship. 

Arizona is led by Stanley Johnson who averages 14 points and just under seven rebounds per game for the Wildcats. 

Texas Southern will look to become the eighth 15 seed to beat a two seed in NCAA history. Texas Southern is coming off a 62-58 win over the Southern Jaguars in the SWAC tournament championship. 

The Tigers are led by Madarious Gibbs who averages 14 points, three rebounds and four assists per game. 

7 VCU vs. 10 Ohio State - 1:40 p.m. 

Of the four games that are in Portland, this might be the best one. VCU is coming off a 71-65 win over Dayton in the A-10 Championship game. However, the Rams are a bit banged up as they are and will be without guard Briante Weber for the remainder of the season. 

In Weber's absence, Treveon Graham has stepped up averaging 16 points per game including a 20 point performance against Dayton in the A-10 Championship. 

Ohio State is coming off a 76-67 loss to Michigan State in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament and finished the season with an 11-7 record in conference.

Ohio State is led by D'Angelo Russell who comes into the NCAA Tournament averaging 19 points, six rebounds and five assists per game for the Buckeyes. 

South Region

5 Utah vs. 12 Stephen F. Austin - 4:27 p.m. 

Utah lost to Oregon in the Pac-12 semifinals but finished the season with a 13-5 conference play record and ranking of #19 in the country to get themselves an at-large big. However, they come in have lost four of their last seven games. 

Delon Wright leads the Utes with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists per game and has registered double-figures in seven straight games.

Stephen F. Austin makes it into the NCAA tournament for the second straight season after beating Sam Houston St. 83-70 to win the Southland championship. 

Thomas Walkup leads SF Austin by averaging 16 points, six rebounds and four assists per game for the Lumberjacks. Walkup poured in 24 points against Sam Houston St to get the Lumberjacks to the big dance. 

4 Georgetown vs. 13 Eastern Washington University - 6:57 p.m. 

The Georgetown Hoyas will be looking to bounce back after getting knocked out of the Big East tournament by Xavier in the semifinals. The Hoyas come into the big dance having won six of their last eight games and finished the season with a 12-6 Big East Conference record. 

Georgetown is led by junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera who averages 16 points and four rebounds per game. 

Eastern Washington  rides a five game winning streak into the big dance after winning the Big Sky Championship, beating Montana 69-65. The Eagles went 26-8 overall and 14-4 in the Big Sky Conference. 

The Eagles are led by Tyler Harvey who this season has poured in 23 points per game, including a season high 42 points against Idaho. Harvey has scored at least 30 points in five games this season.

NCAA Tourney in Portland 

The 2015 NCAA tournament kicks off late Thursday morning in Portland with four great games. There is always one or two big upsets every year and maybe this year, history will be made in Portland. 

Good luck filling out your brackets and let the madness begin!

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