NCAA Tournament: Players from each region who can bust your brackets

NCAA Tournament 2019: Players from each region who can bust your brackets

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 06: Myles Powell #13 of the Seton Hall Pirates celebrates in the second half against the Marquette Golden Eagles on March 06, 2019 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.The Seton Hall Pirates defeated the Marquette Golden Eagles 73-64. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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NASHVILLE, TN – MARCH 16: Head coach Ron Hunter of the Georgia State Panthers talks with D’Marcus Simonds /

Midwest Region

Vasa Pusica, Northeastern, 13 Seed: Gary Parrish lovingly calls Vasa Pusica to be the “CAA Luka!” The San Diego transfer is the heart and soul of the Colonial Athletic Association’s tournament champs. A balanced 17.8 PPG, 4.2 APG and 3.9 RPG allows the 6’5″ Serbian to impact the game in multiple ways. Having missed some time this year, Northeastern thrived even without their star guard, going 4-3 in games without Pusica. The balanced Northeastern team could potentially cause a shocking result against a sputtering Kansas Jayhawk squad and might be worth tracking.

D’Marcus Simonds, Georgia State, 14 Seed: Early last season I submitted my application for the D’Marcus Simonds Fan Club, and while his production may have seen a slight dip in the 2018-19 season, I’m still a firm believer in the Gainesville, Georgia native. When he scores, he scores big having eclipsed 25+ points on seven instances this season.

The knock against Simonds is that he can get a bit streaky with most of December and early January in which he struggled to score more than 15 points in a given game. However, with basketball being about ebbs and flows, one could figure Simonds is due for a spike in production which could spell trouble for Georgia State’s first round opponent Houston…even if it probably won’t.

Myles Powell, Seton Hall, 10 Seed: I feel good and bad about this match-up. For months now I’ve felt confident in saying Wofford could be a Sweet 16 team, and while I still feel that’s a possibility, my confidence took a hit when I saw their draw against Seton Hall in the first round. A tested squad, the Pirates are primed to end the hype surrounding the Terriers and they’ll lean heavily on Myles Powell to do just that.

An absolute bucket getter, Powell has eight 30+ point outings and a 40 point night to his name this season. Ranked in the Top-55 in the country in %Shots at 31%, Powell carries more than a quarter of the offensive load for the Pirates, and is more than capable of having one of his microwave games where he heats up in a matter of seconds.

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