Who will be the UCLA Basketball team’s opponents in this weekend’s mini-bracket? We take a quick look at the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the Bruins.
So who is Kent State and the other teams that the UCLA Basketball team will possibly meet this weekend in the Sacramento bracket?
UCLA has the potential to get to the Sweet 16, but that will not happen unless they defeat their first and second opponents of the Big Dance.
The Bruins have been a good offensive team and have proven themslves in the Pac-12 Conference, but this is a whole different ballgame and UCLA has to know what they’re going up against.
Here is a very quick look at the three teams in UCLA’s section of the South region:
#13 Kent State Golden Flashes (22-13, 10-8)
RPI: 143
vs Top 25: 0-0
Points per Game: 76.9
Points Allowed: 72.3
The Golden Flashes are on a roll right now. There was one 9 of their last 10 games which was topped off by a victories over, in succession, the #3, #2 and the #1, in the Metro Atlantic Conference Tournament to win the championship.
They are a good team that plays well together but they only have three real scorers. They only score 76.9 points per game which, if they do not have Ben Howland-esque defense, will be hard to match UCLA’s 90.4 points per game.
Jimmy Hall (18.9), Jaylin Walker (15.6) and Deon Edwin (13.0) can score in bunches, but if they are slowed, even a little, by the Bruins, it would be hard to get the win against UCLA.
#6 Cincinnati Bearcats (29-5, 8-10)
More from Go Joe Bruin
- UCLA Football: It’s time for the nation to meet Dante Moore
- UCLA Football: Where are they ranked heading into week 4
- UCLA Football: Position battle breakdown for Utah showdown
- UCLA vs. Utah: Location, time, prediction, and more
- UCLA Football: Highlights from Chip Kelly’s appearance on the Jim Rome Show
RPI: 12
vs Top 25: 2-3
Points per Game: 74.5
Points Allowed: 60.8
The deeper you get in the tournament, the tougher the opponents are and if UCLA beats Kent State and Cincinnati wins their first game, we should have a very interesting basketball game on Sunday.
Cincinnati is a very good defensive team and are holding their opponents 60.8 ppg. They are very good rim protectors and can slow the game down. If they can dictate the pace, like USC andin Arizona did in last week’s Pac-12 Tournament, then they have a really good shot of beating UCLA, but they would also have to fulfill the second part of their game. Namely offense.
They are not the best shooting team (45.4%) so if UCLA can play some defense and force them to make outside contested shots, they will not be able to outscore the Bruins, no matter how much they limit UCLA.
#11 Kansas State Wildcats (20-13, 8-10)
RPI: 56
vs Top 25: 3-7
Points per Game: 71.7
Points Allowed: 66.9
Kansas state squeaked by Wake Forest in an 11th seed “First Four” game. The advantage they have is that they are already in tournament mode, but can they get past Cincinnati and potentially UCLA? If they want to get to the Sweet 16, that would mean they would have to win three games in a row, in six days.
Next: How UCLA Can Make a Run in the NCAA Tournament
K-State has won three games in row three times this season, but it was to lesser opponents, sans Baylor