NCAA Sweet Sixteen: Stepping Up

The pressure turns up now that these teams are in the Sweet Sixteen and it takes a full team effort to advance as the quality of opponent teams face increases exponentially.  These are the men that must step up today in order for their teams to advance.

Leonard must produce for the Aztecs to win.

No. 3 Connecticut vs. No. 2 San Diego State

#15 Kawhi Leonard - Forward
6-7 225 Sophomore Riverside, CA
15.6 ppg 10.6 rpg 1.5 spg, leads team

Strong on ball defender, better help defender.  He and forwards Malcolm Thomas and D.J. Gay will have to protect the paint and limit the drives of UConn's Kemba Walker, because there is no guard in the country that can stay in front of Walker man-to-man.
Leonard is a solid ball handler that can grab the defensive board and start transition offense.  They will need him to drive the paint when he receives the ball on the perimeter rather than settling for jumpshots, as he only shoots 29-percent from 3-point and it's not really his game.

No. 3 Brigham Young vs. No. 2 Florida

#1 Kenny Boynton - Guard

Can the athletic Boynton end the Jimmer Show?

6-2 183 Sophomore Pompano Beach, FL
14 ppg 33-percent 3-point

Boynton forms a solid backcourt with All-SEC guard Erving Walker and is instrumental on defense as the 5'8" Walker does not defend bigger guards very well.  Boynton will be asked to defend BYU's Jimmer Fredette, a threat to score as soon as he enters the arena and the nation's leading scorer.
No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 1 Duke

#23 Derrick Williams - Forward
6-8 241 Sophomore La Mirada, CA
19.1 ppg 8.2 rpg 60-percent field goal

Williams has elite NBA talent.

Williams is slated to be an NBA Lottery Pick, and his tournament performance could convince NBA GMs to select him No. 1 overall, much like how Memphis guard Derek Rose jumped Kansas State forward Michael Beasley in 2008.

Duke is a perimeter oriented team that relies heavily on getting offensive rebounds and second chance points.  The Wildcats will need Williams to dominate the glass and limit the Blue Devils' opportunities.

No. 8 Butler vs. No. 4 Wisconsin

#30 Jon Leuer
6-10 228 Senior Orono, MN
18.7 ppg 7.3 rpg, leads team

Leuer might be the toughest player left in the tournament to defend off the pick-and-roll as he is comfortable extending out to the 3-point line (38-percent) and is good and finding teammates cutting to the basket for open layups.  He will be a problem for Butler big men Matt Howard and Andrew Smith who could end up getting into foul trouble trying to defend Leuer and Badger guard Jordan Taylor.

'Johnnie On The Spot'

Beast of the East.

Connecticut guard Kemba Walker was the clear cut favorite to win Big East player of the year early in the season, but his play has been less than spectular as of late, and the Huskies don't look as formidable.  Coming down the stretch in the regular season, no team in the conference, or maybe even the entire country, is playing better than the St. John's Red Storm (No. 25 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP) and most of that success has had to do with senior guard Dwight Hardy.  At the beginning of the season, newly hired head coach Steve Lavin said he would be happy with being in the conversation for the NCAA tournament come this time of year.  With the Johnnies (19-9, 11-5 Big East) going 7-0 in the month of February, with wins over potential tourney number one seed Pittsburgh, UConn, and most recently Villanova, the only question about St. John's tournament status is how high they will be seeded.  And with a roster that includes nine seniors who haven't won much over their college careers, they have the look of a team that won't be happy with just getting to the dance.  Hardy is the hard-nosed squad leader and is flat out balling during this recent seven game stretch.  The Bronx native had a career-high 33 points in the dramatic win over Pitt at Madison Square Garden where he drove through the paint and made a Jordanesque dribble fake away from the baseline, spun back towards the baseline while tip-toeing to keep his balance, and laying in the game-winning teardrop over a couple of defenders with 1.2 seconds left on the clock.  I felt like describing in writing, but just watch and see for yourself . . .

In the matchup with 'Nova last Saturday Hardy topped that scoring mark with 34 points in a 81-68 road win at the Pavilion.  Right now, he's got to be the front-runner for Big East player of the year with Providence guard Marshon Brooks, (25.1 points per game leads Big East, second in nation), Notre Dame senior guard Ben Hansborough, and Walker being the other considerations.  SJU is currently the third ranked team in the Big East (a conference expected to get 11 teams into the NCAA tournament) and has the opportunity for more big wins when the conference tournament starts next week at the Garden.  Hardy and St. John's are heading into March Madness with a head of steam, but they're not the only team to watch out for.

Kansas State

Senior guard Jacob Pullen is playing like the first-team Big 12 talent he is late in the season after a rocky start.  The Wildcats (21-9, 9-6 Big 12), currently unranked after opening the season ranked No. 5, have two big wins over Kansas and Missouri at home in each of the last two weeks and a 75-70 statement victory over a hungry Texas team in Austin on Monday.

Brigham Young

It's not just Jimmer who can hurt you when facing the Cougars.  BYU (27-2, 13-1 Mountain West) has crept up to No. 3 in the polls -- the highest ranking in school history -- and Fredette (27.3 points per game, leads nation) gets solid assistance from 6-foot-5 forward Charles Abouo, a swingman that can bang on the boards as well as knock down the open 3, and senior guard Jackson Emery, who has hit four or more 3-pointers in a game eight times this season. 

Arizona

Yeah, the Wildcats did drop two games on the road in the conference over the weekend but there is a well kept secret in Tucson that will come to light come tournament time.  Teams better not sleep on Arizona because sophomore forward Derrick Williams is a potential NBA lottery pick who has quietly put together an All-American calibur season.  The 6-foot-8 Williams (19.1 points per game, 8.1 rebounds) is an elite athlete who is virtually unguardable.  He has notched double figures in scoring in all but one game this year while shooting 61-percent from the field.  Words can't say enough, roll footage . . .