Meet the four teams playing in Boston
We’re a couple of steps closer to the men’s basketball national title game, with the first two rounds of the ncaa tournament complete.
the field for the East regional at tD garden is set. this week, four teams and their fan bases will descend on Boston to play sweet 16 and Elite Eight games with a spot in the final four on the line.
as expected, no. 1 overall seed Uconn made it to Boston. Joining the huskies are no. 2 seed iowa state, no. 3 seed illinois, and no. 5 seed san Diego state.
here’s a quick look at the four teams, how they got here, and when they’ll play. the regional final will be saturday, starting after 6 p.m. (tip times will be announced later this week).
Uconn, the top overall seed in this year’s bracket, didn’t sweat much in its first two games. after opening with a 91-52 thumping of no. 16 stetson, the huskies easily dispatched no. 9 northwestern, 75-58, at one point holding a 30-point lead in the second half.
three big men have anchored the huskies: 6-foot-5-inch guard tristen newton, in his final season in storrs, conn.; 6-4 grad student guard cam spencer; and 7-2 center Donovan clingan, a sophomore. the three combined for 45 points in sunday’s win. Joining them in the starting rotation is southborough’s alex karaban, a 6-8 forward who is averaging 13.7 points per game.
coach Dan hurley has the huskies in prime position to become the first backto-back champs since florida in 200607. they’ve lost only three times this season: in December to kansas and seton hall, and in february when fellow sweet 16 team creighton knocked them out of a no. 1 ranking with an upset in
Nebraska.
the Huskies are averaging nearly 18 points a game more than their opponents — the fourth-best differential in Division 1.
“we are bulletproof,” Hurley said Sunday night. “Again, elite offense, elite defense.”
san Diego state
next game: vs. Uconn, 7:39 p.m. thursday (tbs/trutV)
the Aztecs survived a first-round scare from No. 12 Alabama-Birmingham and easily handled would-be cinderella Yale, a 13 seed, on Sunday, 85-57. their run through the first weekend sets up a rematch of last year’s national championship game.
Jaedon leDee is the key to San Diego State’s offense. the senior forward is averaging 21.5 points per game — 10th-best in Division 1 — and totaled 58 points over the Aztecs’ first two games. what’s his secret?
“Just staying focused,” he said after Sunday’s game. “that’s really all it is. Just out there playing and executing the game plan and letting it flow to my teammates. that’s really all i’m doing out there.”
coach Brian Dutcher has his team in its fourth straight NcAA tournament and fifth in the seven seasons he’s been at the helm.
Illinois
next game: vs. Iowa state, 10:09 p.m. thursday (tbs/trutV)
third-seeded illinois had a smooth ride into the Sweet 16, dispatching morehead State with a 16-point win in the first round and blowing out 11th-seeded Duquesne to make it to Boston.
Success has been complicated for the Fighting illini, who enter tD garden on the back of terrence Shannon Jr., the star senior guard who is still facing rape charges in Kansas. Shannon scored a combined 56 points across the two wins.
coach Brad Underwood leads the Big ten tournament champions into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005, which also was the last time illinois won the conference tournament before Underwood arrived.
the illini boast the ninth-best scoring offense in the country this season, and their path to the Final Four runs through their offense — and in particular Shannon.
Iowa state
next game: vs. Illinois, 10:09 p.m. thursday (tbs/trutV)
the cyclones had a slightly trickier run to the East Regional, with seventh-seeded washington State keeping things close for much of the Round of 32 matchup before iowa State pulled away. the Big 12 tournament champions boast a more balanced scoring attack than their Sweet 16 opponent — no cyclone scored more than 19 points in either of their wins thus far — and rely on one of the nation’s best defenses.
Under coach t.J. otzelberger, iowa State allowed just 61.2 points per game this season, fourth-best in the nation, setting up a classic matchup between an elite offense and an elite defense.
the cyclones received a nice boost from Springfield central grad Hason ward, who has scored 17 points in 25 minutes across their two wins thus far.
Katie McInerney can be reached at katie.mcinerney@globe.com. Follow her @k8tmac.
Amin Touri can be reached at amin.touri@globe.com.