March Madness: Breakdown of each region for Sweet Sixteen games

East Region

Bracket Busting Team: Marshall (Eliminated)

The East Region has almost stayed true to form. The only outlier was Marshall who knocked off fourth-seeded Wichita State. In the win, junior Jon Elmore, scored 27 points. The trifecta of Elmore, C.J. Burks and Ajdin Penava shot a combined 18-38 (47%).

The trio wasn’t as efficient against West Virginia’s full court, in your face defense. They were 14 for 36 (39%) against the Coach Bob Huggins’ crew.

Favorite: Villanova

You can argue that Villanova is the only high-ranking team that has done what you expect a one seed to do. They have dominated both games they’ve played. In the second round, Alabama was able to stay close early before Villanova blitzed them in the second half in the 81-58 victory.

The Wildcats 1-2-2 three-quarters court defense is designed to get their opponent out of rhythm. It is the secondary reason for the turnovers forced by the defense. They are averaging 14 turnovers forced a game. That doesn’t include bad shots the defense causes.

On offense, Villanova’s five out set is tough to guard when they are hitting the 3 point shot. In the first two games, they are 31-68 (45.5%) from long distance. That opens massive lanes for off the ball cuts through the lane.

Who Can Knock Off Villanova?: Purdue

Despite the Isaac Haas’ injury, Purdue is still a formidable obstacle for Villanova. If they were the knock off the one seed, it will have to come on the defensive end. If the Boilermakers try to put Carsen Edwards on Jalen Brunson, the Wildcats will post Brunson like they did against Alabama. Brunson’s point guard post up game is as diversified as Mark Jackson’s used to be when he was in the NBA.

On offense, Purdue would need to dominate the boards and Dakota Mathias will need to shoot the ball well.