Midwest Regional Sweet 16 Preview

03/25/2019 By Tristan Deschenes

Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons

The first two rounds of the NCAA tournament are complete. The Sweet 16 field is set. Four schools remain in each region, and the games on Thursday and Friday will decide who will advance to the Elite 8.

In the Midwest region, the number one seed North Carolina Tar Heels will take on number five seed Auburn Tigers. North Carolina has impressed with two decisive wins in the tournament so far, beating Iona by 16 points and Washington by 22 points.

Auburn is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. The Tigers barely survived the first round, winning by just one point against New Mexico State. Auburn then went on to shock the Kansas Jayhawks, winning by an impressive 14 points. Auburn made a surprising SEC Championship run, and has proven that it has a very dangerous program.

In the other game in the Midwest region, the number three seed Houston Cougars will be taking on the number two Kentucky Wildcats. The Cougars won their first game against Georgia State by 29 points and won their second game against Ohio State by 15 points. Houston is being led by Corey Davis Jr. who is averaging 23.5 PPG in the tournament.

Kentucky is coming off of a hard-fought victory over Wofford in its second-round game where the Wildcats won 62-56. The Wofford game was a test for the Wildcats as they were forced to play without one of their best players, PJ Washington. Washington sat out because of a foot injury. Kentucky’s appearance in the Sweet 16 marks its third straight year it has reached this point in tournament.