SWEET SIXTEEN PICKS - PART II

PITT-XAVIER
Sam Young, Levance Fields and and DeJuan Blair have combined for 45.3 points-per-game, more than half of the output for the Pitt Panthers. Young has already proven in the regular season why he is an outstanding big man and in the tournament this year, he’s already increased his scoring and is a major threat on the inside for the Panthers. East Tennessee State gave Pitt a run for their money in the first round and Oklahoma State gave them a scare in the second and we’re still waiting to see which team shows up for the contest against Xavier, a team that doubled-up Portland State and made easy work of Wisconsin. The Musketeers are a deeper, bigger team with talent at every position. B.J. Raymond is a versatile G-F with a scorers mentality but the key to this game for Xavier may be the play of the other G-F, C.J. Anderson and Forward Derrick Brown. This will be an entertaining win but I’m banking on the experience at Pitt to get them past the Musketeers.
Prediction: Pitt by four

DUKE-VILLANOVA
Great 2-and-3 match-up but….Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer will be too much for Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds. Reynolds has the edge in speed, but Scheyer’s and Henderson’s defense will make ‘Nova work for every basket and they can score and dish at will and in that order. ‘Nova’s big men will be tested but Brian Zoubek has to be bigger for Duke on the inside.
Prediction: Duke by 12

UNC-GONZAGA
The ‘Zags are no joke. There is a reason that this small school keeps making it into the later rounds and that has a lot to do with basketball fundamentals, a knack for exposing teams defensively and of course they have an incomparable team mentality. The Bulldogs have four players who average in the double-digits in scoring in Josh Hytvelt, Jeremy Pargo, Austin Daye and Matt Bouldin. They lost to UConn in OT during the regular season and they’ve been here before. They are giant-killers and enjoy playing in the underdog role. The ‘Zags swept past Akron but narrowly escaped No. 12 seeded Western Kentucky but their biggest test comes tomorrow against the No. 1 seed North Carolina. The Tar Heels have their own formidable scorers in all-everything Tyler Hansbrough, Deon Thompson, versatile Danny Green, swingman Wayne Ellington and speedy point-guard Ty Lawson. Lawson has been questionable since injuring a toe before the tournament but this may be too much firepower for the Bulldogs to contend with. I’m really looking forward to the matchup between Pargo and Lawson.
Prediction: UNC by eight

SYRACUSE-OKLAHOMA
Eric Devendorf and Jonny Flynn are probably the best all-around backcourt in the tournament. They complement each other perfectly and though Flynn is the younger of the two, he shows maturity beyond his years. Devendorf has a tendency to live-and-die by the three but when he’s on, there’s no stopping him and his size makes him a mismatch for smaller guards in the post when he’s willing to exploit it. Oklahoma’s three-guard rotation of Willie Warren, Austin Johnson and Tony Crocker should be enough to contain Devendorf and Flynn but for Syracuse, Arinze Onuaku and Paul Harris will have the toughest assignment: shutting down the Blake Griffin show down low. I really believe that Syracuse can overcome the three-pronged attack from Oklahoma but if they can’t solve the Griffin problem in the paint, Oklahoma will be playing UNC in the elite eight.
Prediction: Syracuse by four