2014 NCAA Tournament
Midwest Region – Second Round
Bradley Center – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
#10 Arizona State Sun Devils vs #7 Texas Longhorns
Thursday, March 20, 2014, 9:40 pm Eastern, TV: CBS
Opening Line: Texas -1
Current Line: Texas -1 1/2
Opening Total: 143
Current Total: 142
Opening M0ney Line: Texas -125 / Arizona State +105
Current Money Line: Texas -125 / Arizona State +105
The 23-10 Texas Longhorns and 21-11 Arizona State Sun Devils meet in the Midwest region second round Thursday night in Milwaukee. The winner between the #7 Longhorns and #10 Sun Devils will play the winner between #2 Michigan and #15 Wofford in the third round Saturday.
Arizona State went 10-8 in the Pac 12 and were part of a 5 way tie for third. The Sun Devils were upset by Stanford 79-58 in the Pac 12 quarterfinals. Arizona State has lost 3 straight games. The Sun Devils are making their first trip to the tournament since 2009. Arizona State went 4-7 against NCAA tournament teams.
Texas went 11-7 in the Big 12 and tied for third with Iowa State. The Longhorns lost to Baylor 86-69 in the Big 12 semifinals. Texas went 3-5 in their last 8 games. Texas missed the tournament last year for the first time since 1998. The Longhorns went 9-9 against NCAA Tournament teams.
Texas leads the series against Arizona State 3-1. The Longhorns won the last meeting in 1999 in a tournament in Puerto Rico.
Arizona State is coached by Herb Sendek. The Sun Devils have losses to Creighton and Miami-(FL) in a tournament in Fullerton, CA, Washington, at UCLA, at Arizona, Stanford twice, at Colorado, at Utah, at Oregon, and at Oregon State . ASU has key wins over Miami-(OH), at UNLV, Bradley, Marquette, College of Charleston in Fullerton, at DePaul, Texas Tech, UC-Irvine, Washington State, at USC, Utah, Colorado, California twice, Arizona, Stanford, Oregon State, and Oregon. The Sun Devils are 14-15-1 ATS and the total is 11-17-1 this season.
Arizona State is outscoring teams 75-69 this season. ASU is shooting 45% from the field and 38.6% from 3 point range. The Sun Devils are #33 nationally in three point shooting. Arizona State makes 69.4% of their free throws. Sun Devil opponents are shooting 41.5% from the field and 32.4% from 3 point range. ASU averages 35.7 rebounds per game and gives up 35.2 to opponents. The Sun Devils are #336 nationally out of 351 teams in rebounds allowed. ASU averages 14.2 assists, 11.5 turnovers, 5.2 steals and 5.7 blocks per game. Opponents average 11.6 assists, 12 turnovers, 5.6 steals and 4.1 blocks per game.
Guard Jahii Carson averages 18.6 points, 4 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Guard Jermaine Marshall averages 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. Center Jordan Bachynski averages 11.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game. Forward Shaquielle McKissic averages 9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Forward Jonathan Gilling averages 7.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Bo Barnes, Egor Koulechov and Eric Jacobsen will also get significant minutes in the rotation.
Texas is coached by Rick Barnes. The Longhorns have losses to BYU in Kansas City, Michigan St, Oklahoma twice, at Oklahoma State, at Kansas State, at Iowa State, at Kansas, at Texas Tech and Baylor. Texas has key wins over DePaul in Kansas City, Vanderbilt, at North Carolina, Rice, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, Oklahoma State West Virginia three times, Baylor twice and TCU twice. Texas is 14-16 ATS and the total is 14-15-1 this season.
Texas is outscoring teams 74-70 this season. The Longhorns are shooting 43.1% from the field and 32.4% from 3 point range. Texas makes 66.4% of their free throws. The Longhorns are #284 out of 351 teams in free throw shooting. Texas opponents are shooting 39.9% from the field and 34.4% from 3 point range. Texas is #23 in opponents’ field goal percentage. The Longhorns average 42 rebounds per game and opponents average 30.5 per game. Texas is #4 nationally in rebounding. The Longhorns average 12.8 assists, 12.4 turnovers, 5.8 steals, and 6 blocks per game. Texas opponents average 12.5 assists, 11.5 turnovers, 6.5 steals and 3.6 blocks per game.
Texas forward Jonathan Holmes averages 13 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.Guard Isaiah Taylor averages 12.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Guard Javan Felix averages 11.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1 steal per game. Center Cameron Ridley averages 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. Guard Demarcus Holland averages 7.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Demarcus Croaker, Connor Lammert, Prince Ibeh, and Kendal Yancy will also get significant time in the rotation.
Arizona State is 4-1 ATS in non-conference games, 3-7-1 against teams with winning records, and overall, 5-16 in neutral site games, 1-6 after a straight up loss, and 0-4 in Thursday games.
Texas is 4-1 ATS in Thursday games, 5-2 in neutral site games, 13-6 after a straight up loss, 2-6 against Pac 12 teams, 1-4 overall, and 0-4 in NCAA tournament games.
Both of these teams are limping into the tournament. Neither has been that impressive recently, but they both have a ton of talent. Texas has a huge edge in rebounding as they are #4 in rebounds and Arizona State is #336 in rebounds allowed. I think that will be the difference as Texas wins.
