March Madness: Previewing Sunday’s Round of 32 Matchups
Wichita State (10) vs. Kentucky (2)
Wichita State pulled off the "upset" on Friday with their win over Dayton, even though they were favored as a 10 seed. Kentucky played an in-state battle against Northern Kentucky and came through with a nine-point win.
Normally we would give a 2 seed a higher probability to beat a 10 seed. However, Wichita State isn't a normal 10 seed. In fact, they are the 9th best team in the nation in terms of nERD.
Below are three players to keep an eye on from each team.
| Player | Team | PPG | RPG | eFG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malik Monk | Kentucky | 20.4 | 2.5 | 0.550 |
| De'Aaron Fox | Kentucky | 16.1 | 4.1 | 0.494 |
| Edrice Adebayo | Kentucky | 13.3 | 7.8 | 0.614 |
| Markis McDuffie | Wichita St. | 11.8 | 5.7 | 0.540 |
| Landry Shamet | Wichita St. | 11.1 | 2.8 | 0.606 |
| Darral Willis Jr. | Wichita St. | 10.2 | 5.3 | 0.543 |
Here is a quick breakdown of the team stats comparison.
| Team | nERD | O Rtg | eFG% | Reb% | TOV% | D Rtg | Opp. eFG% | Opp. TOV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2 Kentucky | 19.62 | 114.4 | 0.532 | 53.4 | 13.7 | 95.4 | 0.474 | 17.3 |
| #10 Wichita St. | 17.27 | 117.7 | 0.547 | 56.0 | 13.8 | 89.5 | 0.438 | 17.8 |
