It was a tough second day of March Madness expert picks for us as Tony Farmer, David Caraviello and I, going a collective 2-5 with our best bets. However, we roll on with our Round of 32 picks:
Nick's Pick: North Carolina -4 vs Michigan State
Martchup: UNC vs Michigan State
Michigan State’s win over Mississippi State is one thing, but North Carolina is a bridge too far. Hubert Davis’ team excels at stopping opponents from getting inside the paint. Michigan State simply can’t afford to go shot for shot with this North Carolina offense. The Tar Heels score the ball far more efficiently and are elite at cleaning up on the glass.
Tom Izzo’s a grizzled, veteran head coach. Who will surely have a phenomenal game plan to slow down the North Carolina attack. However, with the scoring prowess of RJ Davis, and Armando Bacot, I like the Tar Heels to pull away late and cash.
Nick's Pick: Oregon +5.5 vs Creighton
Matchup: Oregon vs Creighton
Quack, quack, quack. Here come the Ducks. Winners of five straight games Oregon used their Pac-12 Tournament momentum and thrashed the South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday.
Jermaine Couisnard went ballistic, dropping 40 points on the Gamecocks. While N’Faly Dante added 23 points and six rebounds. Oregon shot an incredible 53% from the field and forced ten turnovers.
Creighton can shoot the lights out, but the Bluejays take over half their shots from downtown. Oregon has the length, athleticism, and depth to chase Creighton off the line for 40 minutes. Plus, they excel at creating second-chance opportunities (36th in the country). I think the Ducks do enough to disrupt Creighton’s sharpshooters and keep this one close.
David's Pick: Iowa State -7 Washington State
Matchup: Iowa State vs Washington State
The Cyclones are the best team remaining in the tournament against the spread, having covered in four straight and 11 of their last 15. They’re also outstanding on both ends of the floor, with a crew of rangy, position-less players like 6-8 Milan Momcilovic who can leap, score and defend. Washington State outlasted smaller Drake in the first round, but the Cougars are up against a different animal in an Iowa State team that could easily have been a No. 1 regional seed.
David's Pick: Oakland +5.5 North Carolina State
Matchup: Oakland vs NC State
You know how it works in March Madness: once one of these upstarts gets hot, they tend to stay hot. Oakland showed off a fantastic two-man game against Kentucky, with Jack Gohlke draining 3s and Trey Townsend cleaning up inside. The Golden Grizzlies—who have covered in 11 of their last 14, and won the last four times they’ve been a point-spread underdog—have the type of up-tempo, perimeter-oriented game to counter the Wolfpack’s dominant presence in the paint.
Tony's Pick: Oakland (+160 1H) vs. NC State
Matchup: Oakland vs NC State
Oakland is playing with serious swagger right now and we all saw what they could do from 3-point range vs. Kentucky (15-for-31). Three-pointers have accounted for 34.3% of Oakland’s offense this year and N.C. State isn’t particularly good at defending shots from downtown (218th in the country). Look for the Golden Grizzlies to fire early and often in this one.
Oakland has been known to get off to fast starts even vs. quality opponents. For instance, in a 64-53 loss to Illinois earlier this year, the Golden Grizzlies kept it close at halftime (trailing 28-27). Oakland also hung tough on the road vs. Drake at halftime (trailing 37-36) and led Kentucky 38-35 at the half. Much has been made of NC State’s 5-game winning streak before the Big Dance, but they weren’t leading at halftime in three of those games and even in the Syracuse game where they won by 18 points, they only led by 3-points at the half.
Tony's Pick: Gonzaga -4 vs. Kansas
Matchup: Gonzaga vs Kansas
The Jayhawks win over Samford masked that they are a wounded animal right now going 2-4 SU in their last six games and missing the production of injured star Kevin McCullar Jr. (18.3 points, 6 rebounds , 4.1 assists per game). Hunter Dickinson and K.J. Adams led the way for Kansas in Round 1 shooting a combined 19-for-27 vs. a Samford squad that ranks 173rd in the country in defensive 2-point %. While Gonzaga is known more for its offense, it’s defense is 11th best in the country at stopping inside shots (44.9%).
This Gonzaga team is red hot winning 15 of its last 17 games and its not lost to anyone besides St. Mary’s since January 11th. That hot streak includes wins vs. Kentucky, St. Mary’s and two wins vs. San Francisco (Ranked No. 64 at KenPom).
