The Northwestern Wildcats got a gift from Vanderbilt in their opening matchup with a, shall we say, not-so-smart foul at the end of the game. Not saying that is why they won, but it definitely didn't hurt. After all, just survive and advance!
Gonzaga was up only four points at halftime against the 16-seeded South Dakota State. The Bulldogs then pulled away to a 20-point convincing win, which was never really in doubt.
Gonzaga has the best defensive rating in the entire country and the ninth-best rebounding percentage, as well. Oh, and I'd be remiss not to mention that they also have the second-best offensive rating. All of that is why we give Gonzaga a 79% chance to end Northwestern's first tournament appearance.
Below are three players to keep an eye on from each team.
| Player | Team | PPG | RPG | eFG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigel Williams-Goss | Gonzaga | 16.9 | 5.7 | .570 |
| Przemek Karnowski | Gonzaga | 12.6 | 6.0 | .601 |
| Jordan Mathews | Gonzaga | 10.4 | 3.2 | .545 |
| Bryant McIntosh | Northwestern | 14.4 | 2.7 | .440 |
| Scottie Lindsey | Northwestern | 14.2 | 3.8 | .506 |
| Vic Law | Northwestern | 12.5 | 5.7 | .487 |
Here is a quick breakdown of the team stats comparison.
| Team | nERD | O Rtg | eFG% | Reb% | TO% | D Rtg | Opp. eFG% | Opp. TO% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Gonzaga | 20.54 | 119.3 | .580 | 55.3 | 14.1 | 86.2 | .415 | 15.6 |
| #8 Northwestern | 10.95 | 107.1 | .497 | 50.6 | 13.8 | 98.0 | .460 | 15.5 |