NCAAB
March Madness: Previewing Saturday’s Round of 32 Matchups
Bronson Koenig, who hit eight three-pointers in the opening round, will try to lead Wisconsin past top-seeded Villanova. What do our metrics say about Saturday's Round of 32 games?

St. Mary's (7) vs. Arizona (2)


Arizona put 100 points on North Dakota in the first round during a convincing win. Saint Mary's beat Virginia Commonwealth by eight points, but ultimately had a good showing in the first round.

The Gaels from Saint Mary's play at an insanely slow pace -- in fact it's the second-slowest pace of all 351 schools in the country. Their gameplan is easy to decipher as they play slow, work the ball, and shoot a lot of three-pointers. The challenge for opponents is that they shoot the ball very well. Saint Mary's has an effective field goal percentage of 57.9%, the fourth-best clip in the nation.

Arizona has been playing well, coming off of a Pac-12 tourney title. Now that they are fully healthy, with Allonzo Trier fully in the mix, the Wildcats are one of the best teams in the country, and we give them a 60% chance to advance past the first weekend.

Below are three players to keep an eye on from each team.

PlayerTeamPPGRPGeFG%
Allonzo TrierArizona17.35.0.566
Lauri MarkkanenArizona15.67.1.586
Rawle AlkinsArizona11.05.1.526
Jock LandaleSt. Mary's16.89.3.615
Calvin HermansonSt. Mary's13.02.9.637
Emmett NaarSt. Mary's9.74.3.548


Here is a quick breakdown of the team stats comparison.

TeamnERDO RtgeFG%Reb%TO%D RtgOpp. eFG%Opp. TO%
#2 Arizona15.38113.3.53755.115.097.2.47115.6
#7 St. Mary's14.9118.3.57957.515.192.9.45213.9
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