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JOURNAL INQUIRER / THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 A13 WEST REGION: BREAKING IT DOWN No. 9 Missouri (16-9) No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (22-4) Coach: Cuonzo Martin. Conference: SEC. Bid: At-Large. Coach: Joe Pasternack. Conf.: Big West. Bid: Automatic. Tournament History: 19-26 in 26 appearances. Last Tournament History: 1-5 in 5 appearances. Last appear- No. 1 Gonzaga (26-0) No. 5 Creighton (20-8) appearance: 2018, lost to Florida St. in the First Round. ance: 2011, lost to Florida in the First Round. Coach: Mark Few. Conference: WCC. Bid: Automatic. Coach: Greg McDermott. Conf.: Big East. Bid: At-Large. Season Stats Season Stats Tournament History: 34-22, 1 Final Four in 22 appear- Tournament History: 12-22 in 21 appearances. Last Team Scoring: 73.6 points per game; 44.9 FG pct; 32.0 Team Scoring: 76.5 points per game; 48.5 FG pct; 35.1 ances. Last appearance: 2019, lost to Texas Tech in the appearance: 2018, lost to Kansas St. in the First Round. 3-pt pct; 69.8 FT pct. 3-pt pct; 75.0 FT pct. Elite Eight. Season Stats Top Scorers: Xavier Pinson 14.1; Dru Smith 14.1 Top Scorers: JaQuori McLaughlin 16.2; Amadou Sow 13.7; . Season Stats Scoring: 77.0 points per game; 47.6 FG pct; 36.7 3-pt pct; Rebounds: Tilmon 7.0; Avg team margin (plus-0.3). Rebounds: Sow 7.6; Miles Norris 4.5; Avg team margin Scoring: 92.1 points per game; 55.1 FG pct; 36.5 3-pt 64.2 FT pct. Assist/TO Ratio: 0.98; Smith (3.9/2.4), 97 assists. (plus-5.5). pct; 72.7 FT pct. Top Scorers: Marcus Zegarowski 15.5; Denzel Mahoney 12.5. Last 10 Games: 4-6. Assist/TO Ratio: 1.48; McLaughlin (5.2/2.0), 129 assists. Top Scorers: Corey Kispert 19.2; Drew Timme 18.7; Jalen Rebounds: Bishop 5.9; Avg team margin (minus-0.4). Best Win: 81-78 at home to Illinois on Dec. 12. Last 10 Games: 9-1. Suggs 14.3. Assist/TO Ratio: 1.42; Zegarowski (4.3/2.0), 113 assists. Worst Loss: 70-80 at Georgia on Feb. 16. Best Win: 69-58 at home to Loyola Marymount on Dec. 7. Rebounds: Timme 7.1; Joel Ayayi 7.0; Avg team margin Last 10 Games: 7-3. The Skinny: The Tigers are looking to regroup with new Worst Loss: 52-68 at UC Riverside on Feb. 27. (plus-7.3). Best Win: 86-70 at home to Villanova on Feb. 13. energy for the NCAA Tournament. Missouri peaked on The Skinny: The Gauchos lost back-to-back games on Assist/TO Ratio: 1.51; Suggs (4.5/2.8), 108 assists. Worst Loss: 66-70 at Butler on Jan. 16. Feb. 8 when it was ranked 10th following a 68-65 win Dec. 27 and 28 to two-time defending conference champi- Last 10 Games: 10-0. The Skinny: Creighton was stunned by Patrick Ewing’s over then-No. 10 Alabama and went 2-5 to finish the regu- on UC Irvine to open their conference slate and fall to 4-3 Best Win: 99-88 vs. Iowa on Dec. 19.. Georgetown squad in the Big East Tournament final, giv- lar season, 1-1 in the SEC Tournament. Dru Smith and overall. They have since won 18 of 19, including a 79-63 The Skinny: Will this be the year the Zags finally win their ing the Hoyas their first NCAA appearance since 2015. Xavier Pinson anchor the backcourt but Mizzou’s wild card win over the Anteaters in the Big West title game, behind first national championship? To do so they’ll have to be Creighton is now 0-3 in Big East title games since joining is forward Jeremiah Tilmon. At times in his career, the senior guard JaQuori McLaughlin, the conference player of perfect, or at least their record will be as they go to the conference for the 2013-14 season. The Bluejays, the senior has been one of the best big men in the SEC but the year, and 6-foot-9 junior Amadou Sow, a first-team all- Indianapolis with a 26-0 mark after qualifying for their most accurate shooting team in the Big East, scored a has struggled of late. His return to form could bring a Big West selection. UCSB plays complimentary basketball, 22nd consecutive NCAA Tournament (including last year’s season-low 48 points and shot 29% from the field. huge boost that propels the Tigers beyond expectations. limiting opponents to just 62.8 points per game (No. 19 canceled event). They have the personnel to pull it off with nationally) while shooting 48.5% (No. 20) from the field three Wooden Award finalists in Jalen Suggs, Corey No. 6 Southern Cal (22-7) No. 10 VCU (19-7) and ranking second in the Big West in scoring (76.5). Kispert and Drew Timme. The Zags, with the nation’s top Coach: Andy Enfield. Conference: Pacific 12. Bid: At- Coach: Mike Rhoades. Conf.: Atlantic 10. Bid: At-Large. scoring offense, notched a slew of wins over traditional Large. Tournament History: 13-17, 1 Final Four in 17 appear- No. 13 Ohio (16-7) powers before laying waste to the West Coast Conference. Tournament History: 14-19, 2 Final Fours in 17 appear- ances. Last appearance: 2019, lost to UCF in the First Coach: Jeff Boals. Conf: Mid-American. Bid: Automatic. ances. Last appearance: 2017, lost to Baylor in the Round. Tournament History: 7-14 in 13 appearances. Last No. 2 Iowa (21-8) Second Round. Season Stats appearance: 2012, lost to UNC in the Sweet Sixteen. Coach: Fran McCaffery. Conf.: Big Ten. Bid: At-Large. Season Stats Team Scoring: 72.0 points per game; 45.3 FG pct; 32.9 Season Stats Tournament History: 30-28, 3 Final Fours in 26 appear- Team Scoring: 74.8 points per game; 46.7 FG pct; 34.8 3-pt pct; 76.1 FT pct. Team Scoring: 80.9 points per game; 48.9 FG pct; 36.1 ances. Last appearance: 2019, lost to Tennessee in the 3-pt pct; 64.7 FT pct. Top Scorers: Nah’Shon Hyland 19.4; Vince Williams 10.6; 3-pt pct; 70.1 FT pct. Second Round. Top Scorers: Evan Mobley 16.8; Tahj Eaddy 13.7; Drew Rebounds: Hason Ward 5.2; Avg team margin (minus-0.2). Top Scorers: Jason Preston 16.6; Dwight Wilson III 14.9 Season Stats Peterson 9.9. Assist/TO Ratio: 0.91; Adrian Baldwin Jr. (4.4/2.4). Rebounds: Wilson III 7.5; Avg team margin (plus-1.3). Team Scoring: 83.8 points per game; 46.9 FG pct; 38.6 Rebounds: Mobley 8.6; Avg, team margin (plus-7.2). Last 10 Games: 7-3. Assist/TO Ratio: 1.49; Preston (7.2/2.9), 130 assists. 3-pt pct; 71.3 FT pct. Assist/TO Ratio: 1.10; Ethan Anderson (3.0/1.6), 63 assists. Best Win: 67-64 at home to St. Bonaventure on Feb. 12. Last 10 Games: 9-1. Top Scorers: Luka Garza 23.7; Joe Wieskamp 14.7 Last 10 Games: 6-4. Worst Loss: 76-79 OT at home to Geo. Mason on Feb. 20. Best Win: 87-80 vs. Toledo on Mar. 12. Rebounds: Garza 8.8; Avg team margin (plus-3.1). Best Win: 79-53 vs. BYU on Dec. 1. The Skinny: The Rams picked up a chip on their shoul- Worst Loss: 75-83 at home to Bowling Green on Dec. 30. Assist/TO Ratio: 2.01; Bohannon (4.5/1.4), 130 assists. Worst Loss: 56-58 at Oregon St. on Jan 19. ders when the Atlantic 10 preseason poll picked them to The Skinny: Ohio dominated from the start of the champi- Last 10 Games: 8-2. The Skinny: Evan Mobley and USC needed two OTs to out- finish ninth and they rode it to a 19-win season and the A- onship game to win its first Mid-American Conference Best Win: 73-57 at Ohio St. on Feb. 28. last No. 7 seed Utah in the quarterfinals before falling to 10 tournament championship game against St. Tournament since 2012, denying Buffalo’s attempt at a Worst Loss: 95-102 OT at Minnesota on Dec. 25. Colorado. The 7-foot freshman became the first player to Bonaventure. But conference player of the year Nah’Shon record third straight title. In its last appearance in the The Skinny: Iowa, with a No. 2 seed, has its highest NCAA win the Pac-12’s player of the year, defensive player of the Hyland picked up three fouls in the first seven minutes NCAA Tournament, Ohio shocked Michigan on its way to Tournament seed since 1987 and is in the same region year and freshman of the year awards in the same sea- and VCU was unable to rally for the win despite his 21 the Sweet 16. This season, second-year coach Jeff Boals as top-ranked Gonzaga, which beat the Hawkeyes 99-88 son. Mobley was a dominant force, averaging 16.1 points second-half points. Hyland’s ability to be on the court and and the Bobcats had just three games over a 36-day peri- on Dec. 21. Iowa has the Big Ten Player of the Year in per game while leading the Pac-12 with 8.4 rebounds and playing at a high level will be essential for the Rams to od after several postponements or cancellations due to Luka Garza.