Midwest Region Preview

The NCAA tournament starts, really starts, today at 12:15. It's the best 4 days of the season. We've taken a small look at Creighton, but let's expand our view to the whole Midwest region. 

Before we look at the teams, here are the times and TV for the region. 

Thursday

12:15 CBS 3) Michigan St vs 14) Valparaiso 

2:10 TNT 4) St Louis vs 13) New Mexico State

2:40 CBS 6) Memphis vs 11) St Mary's

4:40 TNT 5) Oklahoma St vs 12) Oregon

6:50 TBS 1) Louisville vs 16) North Carolina A&T

9:20 TBS 8) Colorado St vs 9) Missouri

Friday

12:15 CBS 2) Duke vs 15) Albany

2:45 CBS 7) Creighton vs 10) Cincinnati 

Ken Pom

1. Louisville – 2
2. Duke – 6
3. Michigan St – 10
4. Creighton – 15
5. St Louis – 16
6. St Mary's – 18
7. Missouri – 19
8. Oklahoma St – 20
9. Colorado St – 24
10. Memphis – 37
11. Cincinnati – 40
12. Oregon – 43
13. Valparaiso – 64
14. New Mexico St – 80
15. Albany – 148
16. North Carolina A&T – 225

Ken Pom Offense

1. Duke 119.4
2. Creighton 118.3
3. Colorado St 117.7
4. St Mary's 116.4
5. Missouri 115
6. Louisville 114.5
7. Michigan St 112.8
8. Valparaiso 109.9
9. Oklahoma St 108.4
10. St Louis 108.1
11. Memphis 107.8
12. Cincinnati 104.4
13. Oregon 104
14. New Mexico St 104
15. Albany – 100.6
16. North Carolina A&T 90.3

Ken Pom Defense

1. Louisville 81
2. St Louis 87
3. Michigan St 87.4
4. Oklahoma St 88.1
5. Cincinnati 88.4
6. Oregon 88.6
7. Duke 90.6
8. Memphis 90.7
9. Missouri 93.1
10. St Mary's 94.2
11. Creighton 94.8
12. New Mexico St 94.6
13. North Carolina A&T 96
14. Colorado St 96.6 97
15. Valparaiso 97.2
16. Albany 99.1

Kind of surprising to see North Carolina A&T not at the bottom in defense. The top 14 teams in this region rank in the top 100 of Ken Pom defense. That should mean not a ton of scoring. The drop in offense goes from 65th ranked Memphis to 116th ranked Cincinnati. Points will be at a premium. 

The following numbers are from conference play since the last 2 months have been conference play. Remember, not all conferences are created equal. 

Possessions

1. Oklahoma St 70
2. Memphis 70
3. Oregon 68
4. Duke 68
5. Missouri 68
6. St Louis 67
7. Louisville 66
8. New Mexico St 66
9. Colorado St 65
10. Valparaiso 65
11. Michigan St 64
12. St Mary's 64
13. Creighton 64
14. Albany 
15. North Carolina A&T 64
16. Cincinnati 62

Points Per Possession – Offense

1. Creighton 1.18
2. Valparaiso 1.15
3. St Mary's 1.15
4. Duke 1.14
5. Missouri 1.12
6. Colorado St 1.12
7. Memphis 1.09
8. New Mexico St 1.07
9. St Louis 1.07
10. Louisville 1.06
11. Michigan St 1.06
12. Oklahoma St 1.05
13. Albany 1.01
14. Oregon 0.99
15. Cincinnati 0.97
16. North Carolina A&T 0.89

Efficiency – O

1. Creighton 118.3
2. Valparaiso 115.2
3. St Mary's 114.8
4. Duke 114.2
5. Colorado St 111.8
6. Missouri 111.5
7. Memphis 109.5
8. St Louis 106.8
9. New Mexico St 106.5
10. Michigan St 106
11. Louisville 105.6
12. Oklahoma St 105.1
13. Albany 101.2
14. Oregon 98.5
15. Cincinnati 96.7
16. North Carolina A&T 89.1

Points Per Possession – Defense

1. North Carolina A&T 0.84
2. Louisville 0.90
3. Memphis 0.91
4. St Louis 0.92
5. Oklahoma St 0.95
6. Albany 0.95
7. Oregon 0.97
8. Michigan St 0.97
9. Cincinnati 0.98
10. New Mexico St 0.98
11. Duke 0.99
12. Missouri 1.01
13. St Mary's 1.01
14. Colorado St 1.01
15. Valparaiso 1.04
16. Creighton 1.08

Efficiency – D

1. North Carolina A&T 84.2
2. Louisville 89.7
3. Memphis 90.9
4. St Louis 91.7
5. Oklahoma St 94.6
6. Albany 94.8
7. Oregon 96.8
8. Michigan St 96.9
9. Cincinnati 97.7
10. New Mexico St 98.3
11. Duke 99.2
12. St Mary's 100.9
13. Colorado St 101.1
14. Missouri 101.3
15. Valparaiso 104
16. Creighton 108.5

North Carolina A&T had just 2 teams average more than 1 point per possession offensively. They weren't even the best defensive team in the league! 

Here are the top 16 statistical leaders for the league. It's purely the top 16, so some teams will not be represented. The numbers cover the entire season. 

Minutes

1. Matthew Dellavedova – St Mary's 36.3
2. Bandja Sy  – New Mexico St 35.5
3. Mason Plumlee – Duke 34.8
4. Sean Kilpatrick – Cincinnati 34.3
5. Daniel Mullings – New Mexico St 34.2
6. Markel Brown – Oklahoma St 34
7. Quinn Cook – Duke 33.8
8. Phil Pressey – Missouri 33.7
9. Tyrone Watson – New Mexico St 33.6
10. Keith Appling – Michigan St 33.4
11. Marcus Smart – Oklahoma St 33.4
12. Jacob Iati – Albany 33.4
13. Jabari Brown – Missouri 32.9
14. Dorian Green – Colorado St 32.6
15. Joe Jackson – Memphis 32.5
16. Stephen Holt (STEVE HOLT!) – St Mary's 32.2

Points

1. Doug McDermott – Creighton 23.1
2. Russ Smith – Louisville 18
3. Mason Plumlee – Duke 17.2
4. Seth Curry – Duke 17
5. Sean Kilpatrick – Cincinnati 16.9
6. Matthew Dellavedova – St Mary's 16
7. Ryan Broekhoff – Valparaiso 15.9
8. Marcus Smart – Oklahoma St 15.4
9. Markel Brown – Oklahoma St 15.2
10. Mike Black – Albany 14.9
11. Colton Iverson – Colorado St 14.7
12. Laurence Bowers – Missouri 14.4
13. Ryan Kelly – Duke 14.3
14. Le'Bryan Nash – Oklahoma St 14.1
15. Daniel Mullings – New Mexico St 14
16. Dwayne Evans – St Louis 13.7

Field Goal Percent (min 100 attempts)

1. DJ Stephens – Memphis 66.2%
2. Gregory Echenique – Creighton 65.8%
3. Kevin Van Wijk – Valparaiso 65%
4. Alex Oriakhi – Missouri 62.9%
5. Sim Bhullar – New Mexico St 62.3%
6. Brad Waldow – St Mary's 61.7%
7. Colton Iverson – Colorado St 59.9%
8. Arsalan Kazemi – Oregon 59.2%
9. Mason Plumlee – Duke 59.2%
10. Tarik Black – Memphis 58.6%
11. Adreian Payne – Michigan St 56.3%
12. Doug McDermott – Creighton 56.1%
13. Montrezl Harrell – Louisville 55.8%
14. Bobby Capobianco – Valparaiso 55.7%
15. Michael Cobbins – Oklahoma St 55.6%
16. Bruce Beckford – NC A&T 54.9%

Free Throw Percent (min 50 attempts)

1. Phil Forte – Oklahoma St 91.3%
2. Wes Eikmeier – Colorado St 90.2%
3. Ryan Broekhoff – Valparaiso 87.8%
4. Quinn Cook – Duke 87.3%
5. Keion Bell – Missouri 86.6%
6. Peyton Siva – Louisville 86.3%
7. Matthew Dellavedova – St Mary's 86.1%
8. Doug McDermott – Creighton 86%
9. Jacob Iati – Albany 84.7%
10. Cody Ellis – St Louis 83.5%
11. Adreian Payne – Michigan St 83.2%
12. Russ Smith – Louisville 82.8%
13. LaVonte Dority – Valparaiso 82.7%
14. Seth Curry – Duke 81.7%
15. Cashmere Wright – Cincinnati 81.3%
16. Mike McCall – St Louis 81.3%

3 Pointers Made

1. Jacob Iati – Albany 89
2. Matthew Dellavedova – St Mary's 85
3. Seth Curry – Duke 83
4. Ryan Broekhoff – Valparaiso 82
5. Sean Kilpatrick – Cincinnati 80
6. Doug McDermott – Creighton 74
7. Ethan Wragge – Creighton 74
8. Chris Crawford – Memphis 70
9. Cashmere Wright – Cincinnati 70
10. Phil Forte – Oklahoma St 67
11. Adrian Powell – NC A&T 60
12. Cody Ellis – St Louis 59
13. Gary Harris – Michigan St 59
14. Quinn Cook – Duke 55
15. Mike Black – Albany 54
16. Jean Louisme – NC A&T 53

3 Point Percent

1. Doug McDermott – Creighton 49.7%
2. Ryan Kelly – Duke 48.6%
3. Beau Levesque – St Mary's 46.9%
4. Joe Jackson – Memphis 45.6%
5. Austin Chatman – Creighton 44%
6. Ethan Wragge – Creighton 43.5%
7. Ryan Broekhoff – Valparaiso 43.2%
8. Seth Curry – Duke 43%
9. Mike McCall – St Louis 41.6%
10. Chris Crawford – Memphis 41.4%
11. Gary Harris – Michigan St 41.3%
12. James Walker – St Mary's 41.2%
13. Will Bogan – Valparaiso 41.1%
14. Jacob Iati – Albany 41%
15. JaQuon Parker – Cincinnati 40.8%
16. Avery Dingman – Creighton 40.7%

Rebounding

1. Mason Plumlee – Duke 10.2
2. Gorgui Dieng – Louisville 9.8
3. Colton Iverson – Colorado St 9.7
4. Arsalan Kazemi – Oregon 9.5
5. Pierce Hornung – Colorado St 9.1
6. Alex Oriakhi – Missouri 8.6
7. Dwayne Evans – St Louis 7.7
8. Adreian Payne – Michigan St 7.5
9. Doug McDermott – Creighton 7.5
10. Ryan Broekhoff – Valparaiso 7.3
11. Bandja Sy – New Mexico St 7.2
12. Austin Witter – NC A&T 7.1
13. DJ Stephens – Memphis 6.7
14. Chane Behanan – Louisville 6.6
15. Gregory Echenique – Creighton 6.6
16. Sim Bhullar – New Mexico St 6.5

Assists

1. Phil Pressey – Missouri 233
2. Matthew Dellavedova – St Mary's 216
3. Grant Gibbs – Creighton 202
4. Peyton Siva – Louisville 200
5. Quinn Cook – Duke 166
6. Joe Jackson – Memphis 163
7. Austin Chatman – Creighton 147
8. Marcus Smart – Oklahoma St 135
9. Erik Buggs – Valparaiso 123
10. Dorian Green – Colorado St 122
11. Keith Appling – Michigan St 117
12. Geron Johnson – Memphis 114
13. Chris Crawford – Memphis 112
14. Jordair Jett – St Louis 105
15. Russ Smith – Louisville 103
16. Cashmere Wright – Cincinnati 100

Turnovers (highest number)

1. Phil Pressey – Missouri 119
2. Marcus Smart – Oklahoma St 106
3. Daniel Mullings – New Mexico St 101
4. Mike Black – Albany 99
5. Lamont Middleton – NC A&T 97
6. Joe Jackson – Memphis 93
7. Peyton Siva – Louisville 93
8. Matthew Dellavedova – St Mary's 93
9. Geron Johnson – Memphis 91
10. Mason Plumlee – Duke 91
11. Jeremy Underwood – NC A&T 90
12. Russ Smith – Louisville 90
13. Doug McDermott – Creighton 85
14. Le'Bryan Nash – Oklahoma St 83
15. Erik Buggs – Valparaiso 83
16. EJ Singler – Oregon 80

Steals

1. Marcus Smart – Oklahoma St 94
2. Peyton Siva – Louisville 76
3. Daniel Mullings – New Mexico St 76
4. Russ Smith – Louisville 68
5. Arsalan Kazemi – Oregon 66
6. Adrian Powell – NC A&T 65
7. Joe Jackson – Memphis 59
8. Phil Pressey – Missouri 58
9. Geron Johnson – Memphis 56
10. Brendan Dawson – Michigan St 53
11. Cashmere Wright – Cincinnati 52
12. Erik Buggs – Valparaiso 50
13. Quinn Cook – Duke 48
14. Chane Behanan – Louisville 48
15. Johnathan Loyd – Oregon 47
16. Chris Crawford – Memphis 47

Blocks

1. Austin Witter – NC A&T 108
2. Cheikh Mbodj – Cincinnati 89
3. DJ Stephens – Memphis 83
4. Sim Bhullar – New Mexico St 82
5. Gorgui Dieng – Louisville 68
6. Gregory Echenique – Creighton 59
7. Alex Oriakhi – Missouri 52
8. Mason Plumlee – Duke 49
9. Renaldo Dixon – New Mexico St 43
10. Michael Cobbins – Oklahoma St 42
11. Adreian Payne – Michigan St 39
12. Justin Jackson – Cincinnati 39
13. Tony Woods – Oregon 38
14. Shaq Goodwin – Memphis 38
15. Cory Remekun – St Louis 37
16. Phillip Jurick – Oklahoma St 33

Favorite: Louisville. The Cardinals are probably the hottest team in the country. They are the top overall seed. They do have a very tough region. Duke was one of the teams that beat them this season. Michigan State beat Louisville in the Elite 8 the last time the Cards were the top overall seed. A very tricky matchup with St Louis could loom in the Sweet 16, but this Card team is loaded. 

Sleeper: St Louis. Yes, I did just say Louisville was the favorite, but the Billikens have been playing great ball lately. They steam rolled through the A-10 and play a different style. This is a team on a mission. 

Upset Special: St Mary's over Memphis. Memphis hasn't beaten an NCAA tournament team all season. I don't think the uber-talented Tigers are starting now. 

Player to watch: Sim Bhullar, New Mexico State. You might have heard his name recently. Bhullar makes a big impact on the Aggies. Big as in he's 7 foot 5, 360 pounds. He's a monster of a man. And he's only a freshman. 

Will Duke Lose in the First Round Again?: God I hope so. 

What about the Bearcats?: I'll break down the game with Creighton tomorrow. 

Enjoy day 1 of the tournament, everyone!