NCAA Basketball: 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis preview and predictions
By Adam Childs
Iowa State Cyclones
The Cyclones come to the Bahamas with a 3-1 record including a blow out win of fellow participant Southern Miss. The Cyclones looked good against the Golden Eagles and also against Mississippi Valley State and Northern Illinois.
But in their one game against a major conference school, they lost to Oregon State. It was a game they got down big early and couldn’t make it back to win the game.
The Cyclones are led by sophomore guard Rasir Bolton who is averaging 12.5 points per game. Iowa State has had balanced scoring early on as four guys are averaging double figures and three others are averaging at least seven per game.
Michigan Wolverines
Much has been made of how much the Wolverines lost off of last year’s team, but they still brought back a very good nucleus of players led by Zavier Simpson who is one of the best point guards in the country. He is supported by underrated center Jon Teske and Isaiah Livers who is finally getting his chance to start after coming off the bench his first two years.
The Wolverines have looked good early going 4-0 including a good win against Creighton in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. They haven’t been tested much outside that game so the trip to the Bahamas will show a lot about how good Michigan really is.
North Carolina Tar Heels
The Tar Heels also enter the tournament 4-0 and have won each game with almost identical scores. North Carolina has scored 76, 78, 77, and 75 points while giving up 65, 62, 61, and 61 points respectively in those games.
It has been a good start but not quite as dominant as you might expect from North Carolina. They are led by super Freshman Cole Anthony who is averaging 22.8 points per game including a huge 34 point game against Notre Dame on opening night.
Outside of him, though, the Tar Heels have struggled and will need more from the other players if they want to win this tournament. They should be favored in their first two games no matter who they play in the second round, but will still need to play well to advance.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Nate Oates came over from Buffalo to take control of a Crimson TIde in need of a boost. While the excitement is there, the results on the court have been underwhelming.
Alabama comes in just 2-2 after bad losses to Penn and Rhode Island. The Rams are supposed to be pretty good but to get beat by 14 to them is not a good look early for this Crimson TIde team.
Sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr has been a bright spot for Alabama as he is averaging 21.5 points per game including a 30 point outburst in their loss to Penn. Freshman guard Jaden Shackelford has been about as good averaging 15.8 points per game and he dropped 25 against Furman in their last win.