Ranking the top 8 backcourts in the East Region who could carry their team to the second round

As far as duos go, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask are as good as it gets in the East Region and all of college basketball. Shannon is a lethal downhill scorer, putting constant pressure on the rim and wearing out on-ball defenders. The 6-foot-6 fifth-year guard is scoring 22.6 points a game on 47/36/80 shooting splits while grabbing 4.1 rebounds and averaging a block and a steal. 

He can take over a game, as he did against Nebraska in the Big Ten semifinal with 40 points on 11-22 from the field.

Domask is a nice changeup to Shannon’s aggressive attack, operating more in the mid-post, backing down defenders, and looking for a way to maneuver into the paint for a kick out or to finish himself. The Southern Illinois grad transfer is averaging 15.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and a team-high 3.6 assists at 6-foot-6. It's an excellent 1-2 punch that balances very well together and is a nightmare to defend.

The only problem for the Illini; they don’t have a point guard. Brad Underwood’s team relies on two score-first guards as his primary initiators which worries me at the end of games. There isn’t a real point guard in Illinois’s rotation and it’s a big reason I don’t trust the team to make a deep run.