The afternoon brings us another really excellent-looking #8/#9 matchup, with the winner moving onto likely face the Ohio State Buckeyes (take a look at the rest of the Friday schedule here). Let's take a look at both teams.
Ken Pomeroy says 29th best offense, 44th best defense. Moderately slow tempo. Excellent shooting offense and defense, and one of the best in the country at nailing and defending the three ball. Solid at defensive rebounding and forcing teams into jump shots.
The weakness with the Patriots is a six man rotation; only player off the bench plays more than ten minutes a game. If foul trouble becomes a problem, look for that to factor in late in the game.
Ken Pomeroy says 23rd best offense, 56th best defense. Good at getting to the foul line and very solid at getting rebounds on both sides of the ball. Great shooting defense as well. Excellent free throw shooting team.
The weakness with the Wildcats is they're not a good shooting team. Average from both three and two point land.
Prediction: Narrow edge to Villanova. George Mason puts up excellent shooting numbers, but Villanova should be able to get more shots thanks to excellent rebounding and free points by getting to the line and getting George Mason players into foul trouble. It'll be a coin flip game, and I like teams that can get rebounds.