Oklahoma looks to be the team to knock off No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Do the Sooners have what it takes?
TV schedule: Monday, March 22, 2:40 pm ET. CBS
Arena: Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
Line (per Odds Shark): Gonzaga (-14)
The Gonzaga Bulldogs won their first-round game for the 12th year in a row after defeating Norfolk State (98-55). Corey Kispert had a game-high 23 points and was 6-9 from three. Anton Watson had his best game of the season with 17 points seven rebounds and was 7-7 from the field.
Norfolk State would send two or three guys any time Drew Timme would catch the ball inside. That would lead to scramble situations with Gonzaga swinging the ball around and helped contribute to Gonzaga shooting 14-27 from three and having 27 assists on 34 made field goals.
The Oklahoma Sooners without 2nd leading scorer De’Vion Harmon 12.9 points per game due to Covid-19 protocols defeated Missouri (72-68). Austin Reaves led Oklahoma with 23 points, Brady Manek had 19 points including 5 threes and Elijah Harkless had the best game of his season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Gonzaga is currently undefeated and they entered the tournament as the first undefeated team since Kentucky in 2014-2015. According to Kenpom, Gonzaga is the number 1 team in the country and also number 1 in adjusted efficiency, offensive efficiency, and 7th in defensive efficiency. The Zags play extremely fast ranking 4th in tempo and are No. 1 in the country in effective field goal percentage.
They are led by three All-Americans in Kispert who’s the best shooter in the country. Timme who is an incredible low post scorer and does a good job of handling the ball for a big man and Jalen Suggs who figures to be a top 5 pick in the 2021 NBA draft.
Oklahoma checks in at 40th in Kenpom with the 34th ranked offense and the 47th ranked defense. Oklahoma does a pretty good job taking care of the ball on offense ranking 19th in the country in turnover percentage and defensively do a really good job not fouling with the 22nd FTA/FGA in the country.
The Sooners are led by Reaves at 17.9 points per game who was first-team all BIG-12 this year. There is a bit of a drop-off after him, Manek scores 11.2 points per game. Even though he is a big man he shoots over half of his field goals from three. With the absence of Harmon, Harkless, and Umoja Gibson who is the best three-point shooter on the team need to step up.
Oklahoma is a very well-coached team that plays under a great coach in Lon Kruger. But without Harmon, I just don’t think they have enough talent to beat the Zags.