The Richmond Spiders and Morehead St. Eagles scored huge upsets over the Vanderbilt Commodores and Louisville Cardinal with dramatic victories in the final seconds. Now they'll be rewarded with a second round matchup with each other, something both of them would greatly welcome, as it definitely increases their odds of going to the Sweet 16 (as opposed to trying to beat two major conference teams in a row).
Let's take a brief look at each team.
#12 Richmond Spiders
Dossier courtesy of Pomeroy: 48th best offense, 50th best defense, glacial tempo (slow team). Great shooting offense (particularly on three pointers) and defense (particularly on three pointers). Not a terrible two point shooting team. Also good at holding onto the ball.
The biggest weakness with Richmond is rebounding. They're one of the worst offensive rebounding teams in the country (although some of that probably has to do with their excellent shooting), and even worse at getting to the free throw line (some of that probably has to do with their reliance on three point shots).
#13 Morehead St. Eagles
Dossier courtesy of Pomeroy: 109th best offense, 89th best defense. Slow tempo. Decent shooting offense, particularly on two point field goals, and pretty good two point defense too. They get to the line frequently and they are a great rebounding team. Excellent at forcing turnovers too.
The biggest weakness with Morehead State is they are one of the worst teams in the country at turnover %, losing the ball on over a quarter of their possessions. They also are patently bad at three point defense.
Prediction: Richmond wasn't a bad bet to go to the Sweet 16, and their odds are definitely pretty good now. Both teams play slow, so Richmond should be used to the way Morehead State runs. And the big warning sign is great three point shooting offense (Richmond) vs. bad three point shooting defense. Unless the Spiders get totally boarded up, the Spiders are a pretty good bet to go to the next round.