Author: obaivasc_obaivascobaivasc_obaivasc
Date: Mar 22, 2008 13:39
On the surface, the round 2 NCAA Tournament matchup Saturday night
at the Pepsi Center between the 5th seeded Spartans and the 4th
seeded
Panthers will look like a toss up to most.
Many will grab the underdog Spartans at +2 or +2.5 for just that
reason.
And why not? Their records are comparable from very good
conferences
and they are rated similarly. They own a better shooting efficiency on
the floor, from the charity stripe, and from behind the arc. They can
match Pitt in the halfcourt sets and the transition game. If they get
hot shooting it could be a very long night for the Panthers.
But what many will be overlooking, aside from the fact that the
Panthers
are on a 6 game roll and 3-0 against elite teams in that stretch, is
that the Panthers record is deceiving because they were WITHOUT their
key starter, Levance Fields (5.5 assists per game) from January 1 thru
February 14, and had to slowly work him back in for his first two
games.
Once he got his game back they've been a superior ball club - ...
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