Early Thoughts on Northwest Tourney Games

#4 Wazzu vs. #13 Winthrop, Thursday in Denver:
Usually when two teams with the same style play each other, the better team is going to win. See Wazzu/Stanford. Also see this game. Winthrop is a slow-down team just like Wazzu; they are 291st in D1 in possessions per game. Wazzu should win, but this will be a verrrry low-scoring game. One possible X-factor: Winthrop guard Chris Gaynor, who was 3rd in the nation in steals, with 2.9 per game. Still, I don't see him having much of an effect against Wazzu's senior guards.

#7 Gonzaga vs. #10 Davidson, Friday in Raleigh.
Stephen (pron. STEF-an) Curry. That's the name to know. Davidson's best player is the son of longtime Charlotte Hornet Dell Curry. Stephen was 5th in the nation in scoring at 25.1 ppg. He's a three-point shooter--he hit 4.3 per game, which was third in the nation. Curry scored 30 points last year in a tourney game against Maryland as the 13th-seeded Wildcats put a scare into #4-seed Maryland. This team is no pushover, they've won 22 games in a row. They win by hitting their shots, and by keeping opponents off the offensive glass. The Zags could win this game on the boards, they'll have a height advantage with Kuso, Heytvelt, and Daye all taller than any player Davidson has.

#9 Oregon vs. #8 Mississippi St, Friday in Little Rock:
When Oregon's on offense, this will be a classic strength vs. strength game. Oregon has one of the best offenses in D1, Mississippi State one of the best defenses. The Bulldogs' Jarvis Varnado leads the nation in blocks with 4.9 per game, but that shouldn't be much of a factor since Oregon doesn't get much scoring inside. More troubling should be MSU's big point guard, Jamont Gordon. At 6-4, he'll have nearly a full foot height advantage over Tajaun Porter. Porter will have quickness advantage but will he be able to get a shot off?

#16 Portland State vs. #1 Kansas, Thursday in Omaha:
PSU was ranked as a #13 seed by Bracketology, so this is a bit of a surprise. The Vikings will need a miracle...one glimmer of hope is that Kansas' fantastic defense is not as good at stopping the three as they are at stopping interior scoring. PSU is an outside shooting team, so they have a better shot against the Jayhawks than a team that relies on post play would.