What Auburn needs to do to win…

Like all of their games in the tournament, they need to make an insane amount of threes and force an insane amount of turnovers. Auburn has one of the best backcourts left in the tournament with Jared Harper and Bryce Brown, both of whom scored 20 points in their OT win against Kentucky. They are both incredible at causing turnovers and did a great job stepping up against Kentucky without Chuma Okeke, their star forward who tore his ACL. In order for Auburn to advance to the championship, Harper and Brown will need to hit their shots.

What Virginia needs to do to win…

Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome will need to lockdown Harper and Brown and close out the three-pointers. Virginia is one of the best defensive teams in the nation and is excellent at pressuring the ball handler. This will be one of their toughest tests as Auburn has a dangerous system of ball movement that excels at creating open shots. It will be difficult to stop the speed of 5’11 Jared Harper, but if they can keep the ball out of his hands they will have as good a chance as any.

My Prediction…

As much as I like this Auburn team, I think the winner will have to be Virginia. Without Chuma Okeke, I don’t think Auburn will have the size to compete inside. Also, with the speed of Virginia’s defense, I don’t think they will be able to get up enough good shots.

No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 3 Texas Tech- Saturday at 7:39 PM

What Texas Tech needs to do to win…

Jarret Culver will have to keep up his consistency, and they will need to keep Cassius Winston in front of them. Jarret Culver has been great in this tournament run, notching multiple 20-point performances. He needs to keep up this run and shoulder the scoring load for TTU as they don’t have many other high volume scorers. Cassius Winston is great at using his body to get inside and he is deadly within the three-point line. Whichever guard is defending him will need to get up on screens and stay with him so as he doesn’t get in for a layup or kick it out for a three.

What Michigan State needs to do to win…

Cassius Winston obviously needs to have a solid performance but one of the X-Factors for this Michigan State team is Senior Matt McQuaid. When McQuaid gets hot, it looks like he’s unstoppable. Against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament Final, McQuaid scored 27 points and most of them came in the second half. Cassius Winston is so good at getting inside that it almost always leaves a shooter open, which is where McQuaid does his work. In order for MSU to get hot on offense, McQuaid will need to step up like he did against Michigan.

My Prediction…

Overall, I think Michigan State’s strong offense will overpower Texas Tech’s defense. They just have too many weapons, with Winston, McQuaid, Tillman, and many more. Unless Texas Tech gets extremely hot, this is Michigan State’s game to win.