March Madness 2011: 16 Mind-Blowing Stats From the Sweet 16 Teams
Starting tonight, the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament gets serious.
We know this because from here on out, each of the rounds has an awesome branding: Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four...
Seriously, the action in the four games tonight and tomorrow have big-time implications on what is still ahead.
Each of the 16 teams brings a unique and exceptional identity to the table—strengths that have fueled their success so far and may create the successes that are still to come.
Let's take a quick look at one amazing stat from each team that could be the reason why they move on (or don't move on) to the next round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
The teams are listed together with their opponents and in order of the scheduled time of the games.
UConn Huskies
1 of 16
The Huskies have shot 33.4 percent from beyond the arc this season.
That puts them at No. 199 in the country.
No one among UConn's top eight players (based on minutes played) shoots above 35 percent from three-point range.
Kemba Walker is a great scorer, but he only shoots 34 percent from downtown.
Strangely, their low three-point shooting percentage hasn't seemed to hold them back too much down the stretch.
In the five games that they won in the Big East Tournament, the Huskies shot a combined 27 percent from beyond the arc.
Just think how dominating they could be if they elevate this key stat.
San Diego State Aztecs
2 of 16
This year, San Diego State has won the most games (34) in school history.
One of the biggest factors in winning this many games has been their ability to keep their opponents from scoring.
The Aztecs are allowing 58.8 PPG, good for sixth in the country.
In SDSU's only two losses this year, both to BYU, the Cougars scored 71 and 80 points.
If the Aztecs can keep the score in the 60s against UConn, there is a good chance that they will come away with a big victory.
Brigham Young Cougars
3 of 16
With all of the attention that Jimmer Fredette has received this year, many people don't realize how good the rest of the team is in terms of shooting.
BYU is the No. 10 team in the country in foul shooting.
While Fredette (pictured) does lead the team in FT percentage (89.1), four of his teammates shoot at least 80 percent from the line.
It is possible that in their game against Florida, BYU will need to hit some crucial shots from the line down the stretch.
If so, Dave Rose should have confidence that his Cougars can come through in the clutch.
Bonus Stat: BYU guard Jackson Emery has the most steals of any player still in the tournament (99, good for No. 5 in the country this season).
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Florida Gators
4 of 16
Billy Donovan's Gators play good defense, but they do not foul very much at all.
In fact, they only commit, on average, 14.5 fouls per game (which is No. 2 in the nation).
Two key factors that this influences: 1. The Gators don't get into foul trouble often; and 2. They don't put their opponents on the line very much.
It will be interesting to see if Florida can maintain this low foul count while still putting ample defensive pressure on Jimmer Fredette.
Arizona Wildcats
5 of 16
Sean Miller is in his second year in coaching the Arizona Wildcats.
He is attempting to re-invent the program and change for what the program is known.
While the U of A is still a high-scoring team, they have established themselves as being able to shut their opponents down in terms of three-point shooting.
Kyle Fogg (pictured) leads the Cats' aggressive unit of lock-down perimeter defenders.
On the year, the Wildcats are only allowing their opponents to shoot 29.1 percent from beyond the arc, which is fifth in the country.
This definitely could have an impact on their game Thursday against Duke.
Duke Blue Devils
6 of 16
Duke is a team that shoots a high number of three-point shots in just about every game, regardless of who they are playing.
There is a stark contrast between the games that Duke won and lost in terms of how well they have shot from downtown.
In the 32 games that the Blue Devils have won this season, they shot 40 percent from beyond the arc.
In the four games that Duke has lost this season, they shot just 24 percent.
With what we just saw about Arizona's ability to challenge their opponents' three-point shooting, this could be a major factor in Thursday's game.
Butler Bulldogs
7 of 16
The Butler Bulldogs have blocked a total of 54 shots this entire 2010-11 season.
It's safe to say that Brad Stevens' teams don't make it onto SportsCenter very often because of how many of their opponents shots they throw back.
Matt Howard (pictured) leads Butler with 0.7 blocks per game, which is not exactly Bill Russell-esque.
To put this team stat in perspective, Syracuse, the nation's shot blocks leader, rejected 231 shots this year.
Obviously, this hasn't prevented Butler from succeeding this year...they're still playing!
Wisconsin Badgers
8 of 16
Jordan Taylor (pictured) and his Wisconsin Badgers teammates take care of the basketball.
In fact, Bo Ryan's squad is only averaging seven turnovers per game.
Taylor and Jon Leuer, the Badgers two All-Big Ten first-teamers, have nearly half of their turnovers.
For most teams, if their star players accounted for half of their turnovers, they would have some serious trouble.
Not the Badgers. Combined, Taylor and Leuer average 2.8 turnovers per game.
Bonus Stat: Wisconsin is the best free throw shooting team in the country at 82.3 percent.
Marquette Golden Eagles
9 of 16
Buzz Williams' Golden Eagles do not shoot the three very often.
In fact, with only making 5.3 shots from beyond the arc per game, Marquette ranks last in this category out of the Sweet 16 teams.
The problem that this could cause against North Carolina is that with the Tar Heels' long and talented front-line, they could pack the line against Marquette and keep them confined to the outside.
Dwight Buycks (pictured), Marquette's best three-point shooter, may need to hit a couple early just to keep UNC honest.
North Carolina Tar Heels
10 of 16
Roy Williams' Tar Heels are the top rebounding team in the nation (42.5 RPG).
Is anyone really surprised by this, considering that UNC has Tyler Zeller, John Henson (pictured) and Harrison Barnes clogging the middle?
North Carolina already has a significant size advantage going into Friday's game against Marquette. Now, the Golden Eagles are going to have to contend with the best team on the boards.
Good luck.
Richmond Spiders
11 of 16
Chris Mooney's Spiders are the rare combination of a team that both shoots and defends the three very well.
Richmond has connected on 40 percent as a team (No. 8 in the nation) and they have allowed their opponents to make 30.1 percent (No. 11 in the nation).
Justin Harper (pictured), Richmond's 6'10" do-everything player, leads the team in three-point percentage (45.2 percent).
Continuing to do well in both of these categories is an absolute must when Richmond squares off against Kansas on Friday.
Kansas Jayhawks
12 of 16
Bill Self's Jayhawks are the best shooting team in the nation (51.4 percent).
One of the factors that helps with this is that they are also tops in team assists with 17.9 APG.
You usually get better shots if, as a team, you are looking to set your teammates up to score.
As if Marcus and Markieff Morris needed further help to get the ball in the basket.
For Richmond to be successful on Friday, they will need to disrupt Kansas' normal patterns and positioning on offense.
Not an easy thing to do.
Kentucky Wildcats
13 of 16
Young teams don't always "get after it" on defense, but John Calipari's Wildcats do.
They hold their opponents to 39.3 percent shooting.
Josh Harrellson (pictured) has become the blue-collar workman of the Kentucky defense. He is a tough, physical presence in the lane that makes it hard to take the ball inside against the Wildcats.
He will have his hands full on Friday, when he goes up against Ohio State's freshman phenom, Jared Sullinger.
There's gonna be a whole lotta bangin' goin' on.
If Harrellson can neutralize Sullinger, the Wildcats will take this one down to the wire.
Ohio State Buckeyes
14 of 16
Many people probably think, "Ohio State. Plays in the Big Ten. Football school. Probably just a bump-and-bang basketball team, right?"
While Thad Matta's Buckeyes don't back down from anyone, they are the top three-point shooting team in the country (42.4 percent).
Recently, in a game against Wisconsin, OSU hit 14-of-15 shots from beyond the arc. Jon Diebler (pictured), in back-to-back games against Penn State and Wisconsin, hit 17 threes alone.
If Kentucky or anybody else is going to stop this OSU team, they are going to have to be tough in defending the arc.
Bonus Stats: Ohio State is also No. 1 in scoring margin (18.0+) and least number of fouls per game (14 FPG).
Virginia Commonwealth Rams
15 of 16
VCU has attempted 844 three-point shots this year, about 23 per game. That is the most of any of the remaining teams in this year's tournament.
Shaka Smart gives his team the green light to put it up from beyond the arc, as well he should. His team hits a solid 36.4 percent from downtown.
Rams guard Joey Rodriguez (pictured) leads the team in three-point attempts with 192.
Florida State Seminoles
16 of 16
Leonard Hamilton's Seminoles don't mess around when it comes to defense.
They are the No. 1 team in the nation in defensive field goal percentage.
On the year, they only allow their opponents to shoot 36 percent from the floor. That's impressive.
Along with that they are No.10 in three-point defense. Derwin Kitchen (pictured) is a lock-down defender that leads the Florida State resistance.
After just having looked at VCU's tendency to put up lots of shots from beyond the arc, this definitely could be a key to who wins this Sweet 16 matchup.
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