Senior Point Guards Proving to Be the Story of the 2015 NCAA Tournament

Travis Trice dropping 23 points on Virginia. T.J. McConnell winning his one-on-one matchup against projected top-five NBA draft pick D'Angelo Russell. Kevin Pangos combining for eight three-pointers in two games. 

The results are conclusive: Senior point guards are dominating the 2015 NCAA tournament. 

Trice, McConnell and Pangos have stood out the most, but they aren't the only ones. Dee Davis, Delon Wright, Juwan Staten and Jerian Grant have all been instrumental in getting their teams to the Sweet 16. 

They've proved that the leadership of a senior point guard is priceless in March. 

Michigan State's Trice had arguably the most impressive single-game performance of the tournament against Virginia.

The East Region's No. 2 seed had allowed just one player to score 23 or more points in regulation against it all season. The Cavaliers also had KenPom.com's best adjusted defensive efficiency in the nation going into the tournament.

Yet Trice had three three-pointers and 13 points in the first five minutes and 28 seconds of the game to give Michigan State a 15-4 lead.

"

Guys, Virginia has the best transition defense in the country, and Travis Trice is just obliterating it.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 22, 2015"

And when things got tight late, he hit a deep three-pointer to crush the Cavaliers' hopes. 

"They're a hard team to get around because we're trying to ball-screen it," head coach Tom Izzo said, per Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press. "They trap that, jump it, so we started telling Trav [to] just take them one-on-one."

Leaning on the senior paid off, as Michigan State advanced with a 60-54 upset victory. 

Arizona's McConnell made Bleacher Report Lead Writer C.J. Moore's All-Tournament First Team through the round of 32 for his efficient play against Texas Southern and Ohio State. 

Arizona looked out of sorts early in the Ohio State game, making just seven of its first 23 field-goal attempts. McConnell, who averages only 10 points per game, was 4-of-6 for eight points during that stretch to keep the Wildcats within six points. He finished with 19 points, six assists, six rebounds and five steals as Arizona dominated the second half en route to a 73-58 win. 

"

T.J. McConnell joins Jason Kidd as only Pac-12 players since 1986 w/ 15 Pts, 5 Reb, 5 Ast, 5 Stl, in NCAA tourney gm. pic.twitter.com/JSrekKW1wT

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 21, 2015"

He also helped shut down Buckeyes star freshman D'Angelo Russell, who went 3-of-19 from the field.

Pangos had 34 points on 22 field-goal attempts and just two turnovers in Gonzaga's comfortable second- and third-round wins. That's efficiency.

But Xavier's Davis would like to see Pangos' efficiency and raise him. He posted 32 points on 13 field-goal attempts during the Musketeers' opening tournament weekend.

Notre Dame's Grant has 33 points and 10 assists so far in the tourney, but his clutch factor rivals Trice's. Grant had the game-clinching steal in the round of 64 against Northeastern and an assist and a layup in the final 1:25 of the round-of-32 win against Butler.

West Virginia guard Staten is second in the tournament in assists with 13, and his defense helped the Mountaineers edge Buffalo and Maryland. 

Utah point guard Wright posted 23 points and 11 assists over his team's two games, and his defense was crucial for those victories. The Utes have held their first two opponents to an average of 57 points per game and just 27.5 percent from beyond the arc, thanks in large part to Wright's efforts on the perimeter.

The common theme with these seven players is they do whatever it takes on both ends to survive and advance. Staten decided to draw the defense for teammate Tarik Phillip to hit a dagger three-pointer against Buffalo, and Pangos has occasionally deferred to Kyle Wiltjer, who was on fire (47 points, 18-of-24 shooting) against North Dakota State and Iowa. 

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

It's all about getting a feel for what a team needs most, and these players have mastered it. 

Maybe we should've seen this coming. Shabazz Napier led Connecticut to a national championship last year. Peyton Siva was the heartbeat of Louisville's 2013 title run. Kemba Walker carried UConn past the finish line in 2011. 

All of those schools had veteran point guard magic in the biggest moments. And we could just be getting started in 2015. 

Will Wright or Pangos orchestrate an upset of Duke, the South Region's No. 1 seed? Will Trice take Michigan State—which Izzo told reporters isn't as talented as in year's past—to the Final Four with sheer guts? Will McConnell lead Arizona past Wisconsin and Kentucky, its two biggest potential roadblocks, en route to a national championship?

Based on past results, I wouldn't count any of these scenarios out. 

Regardless of what happens, we can all take something from the last few days: When filling out your 2016 NCAA tournament bracket, avoid picking against teams with a talented senior point guard in the early rounds, because they have "Sweet 16" written all over them. 

Joseph Akeley is a Bleacher Report featured columnist. Follow Jakeley_BR on Twitter.