NCAA Basketball: 2018 Paradise Jam Tournament preview and predictions

Teams in the bottom half of the bracket

The bottom of the bracket features the two games that will play during the evening session of the opening day of the tournament. Northern Iowa faces Penn in the first game of the session while Eastern Kentucky and Kansas close out the night.

Northern Iowa: The Panthers (1-1) ran over D-II Bemidji State (97-51) in the season opener, they then fell to UT-Arlington (74-65). UNI is rebuilding this year as the Panthers are returning just two starters. 6-foot-4 Freshman guard A.J. Green is the player to watch.

Penn: The Quakers are 3-0 for the first time since 2015-16 season. Penn opened the season with a come-from-behind victory over the George Mason. The Quakers also have wins over Rice (92-76) and Lafayette (91-61).  Penn returns eight letterwinners, including four starters, from a year ago.  They currently have three players, led by 6-foot-8 junior AJ Brodeur, averaging double figures in scoring.

Eastern Kentucky: The Colonels already have experienced the ups-and-downs of the early going. EKU (2-1) began the season getting spanked by Marshall (105-77) in the opener as the Thundering Hurd made 50 percent of their shots from the field as well as 21 of 32 free throw attempts. They then earned a three-point victory over UT-Chattanooga (81-78) before blowing out NAIA Midway University (107-52).

Kansas State: The Wildcats (2-0) have won their first two games of the season for the fifth straight year. KSU has victories over Kennesaw State (56-41) and Denver (64-45). Barry Brown and Dean Wade lead a veteran squad that expects to challenge for the Big-12 title this year.