NCAA tournament run without a close game?

Submitted by k.o.k.Law on

Last done by Magic and MSU 1in 1979, all wins by double digits -

though that was 5 games, not 6.

Can Villanova do it?

No, they are due for a close game.

How will they respond?

Also, our patter is, game 1, bad shooting, game 2, same

game 3, shoot the lights out

game 4, bad shooting, game 5, same

game 6 -

SHOOT THE LIGHTS OUT!!!

BlueNash

April 1st, 2018 at 8:05 AM ^

The last time isn't MSU '79; UNC did it 2009.  That UNC team was arguably the best CBB team of the 21st century, yet people seem to forget about them for some reason.  Granted, maybe they deserve an asterisk in light of events that later came to light.  But: 

1st Round: UNC 101 Radford 58

2nd Round: UNC 84 LSU 70

Sweet 16: UNC 98 Gonzaga 77

Elite 8: UNC 72 Oklahoma 60

Final Four: UNC 83 Villanova 69

TItle Game: UNC 89 MSU 72

 

Nothsa

April 1st, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^

with no wins by less than 13 points. They had two wins, including the Elite 8 game, with 30+ point victories. It's not that rare for the NCAA champs to go through the bracket like Sherman through Georgia - UNC was the 12th to win all tournament games by double digits, but the majority of NCAA champions have average margin of victories in the double digits. Only about a quarter of champs don't. Here's an article about it:

http://collegehoopedia.com/blog/victory-map-more-40-ncaa-champions-posted-higher-win-margins-kentucky-12

However, many of those double-digit margin average teams did feature a game closer that finished within 2 possessions, so there's something to the OP. Interestingly, the 1963 Loyola Chicago team had the second highest margin of victory (at least as of 2012, when that article was published).

KennyHiggins

April 1st, 2018 at 8:10 AM ^

We will play intense D - Nova has seen nothing like it.  We have a great coaching staff - they will make the adjustments.  We have a LOT of ways of beating teams - will it be Moe, Matthews, MAAR, Duncan, Z, Poole?  Who knows, but a few guys will have strong games.  We ARE Michigan.  We are winning a national championship tomorrow night.  We bow to no man, no team.  Let's get it.

The Fan in Fargo

April 1st, 2018 at 8:40 AM ^

Also I would like to add. Kansas got off a ton of outside shots on the so called Nova stellar defense. They couldn't keep up though. Michigan should be able to pick and pop where they want at will. This has nothing to do with your post but I needed a good spot to throw it in because I don't believe anyone has mentioned this yet. The game is there for the taking. Immortality, take it, it's yours Michigan Basketball!!!

VicTorious1

April 1st, 2018 at 8:57 AM ^

Nova isn't know for having vaunted defense. Good defense, yes. Their defense is ranked one spot below aTm and one spot ahead of OSU. They're a couple spots ahead of Loyola. We should get open looks. We also have had the best three point defense in the tournament. It seems like Bill Self didn't scout Villanova. They kept cheating off the three point shooters for help side defense. We won't do that. It'll be a tough game, but we can win.

wildbackdunesman

April 1st, 2018 at 8:17 AM ^

Villanova deserves to be favored, but we can beat them.  If Butler, St. Johns, Providence, and Creighton can beat them....we can too.  Seton Hall took them to OT.  If they are a little flat and we are hitting our threes....watch out.

ILL_Legel

April 1st, 2018 at 9:47 AM ^

It will be. Their center wants to shoot 3’s also. Play great 3 point D and transition D. Frustrate them. Then we have a chance. Michigan D #3 Kansas D #47 Texas Tech D #4 West Virginia D #41 Alabama D #20 Villanova #14 D Won’t be easy but we absolutely can win this game.

Go for two

April 1st, 2018 at 8:26 AM ^

Defense is our opportunity in this game. Keep playing the suffocating D and we will have a chance. If we try to get into a shooting contest, it will be over early

RobM_24

April 1st, 2018 at 8:28 AM ^

I was leaning on the whole "bad depth perception, playing in a huge stadium" belief ... until Nova came out and set a record on the same damn court. Hopefully all the nerves are settled and we can shoot to our averages on Monday. Better yet, we shoot well enough to bring our tournament average up to match our season average.

M-Dog

April 1st, 2018 at 1:51 PM ^

Nova is Nova, but we'll get to see how well they can shoot those 3's when they don't have all that luxurious space and time to shoot them.  it might be a different story.

Loyola only had like one three all night long against Michigan after lighting them up all tournament against everybody else.

 

 

maize-blue

April 1st, 2018 at 8:32 AM ^

Michigan's defense is championship level. According to kenpom stats they'd have one of the top units in that regard over the past 16 champions. Unfortunately their 31st ranked offense would be the second lowest ranked offense to win a championship in that timeframe. And only 3 of the past 16 champs had offenses ranked in the double digits. It looks like most of the recent champs had better offenses than defenses. Historical stats favor Villinova. But anything can happen when the actual game is played.

Mich fan in AZ

April 1st, 2018 at 11:47 AM ^

The highest defense number for a champion has been 92.5 so far. That was North Carolina last year. Villanova sits at 94.4 for now. So if we are going the weak offense route for us, also consider the weak defense route for Nova.

1VaBlue1

April 1st, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^

If Michigan just shoots a season average across the court, this game will be too close for Nova's comfort.  With Michigan's defense, Nova will find it difficult to get open looks.  They can (will) hit some, but certainly not like last night.  With our defense, a season average offensive game promises a good possibility for a win.  An A&M night shooting is a comfortable win.  Against they way M stops 3-pt'ers and transition, an A&M-like offensive performance is the absolute worst thing Nova wants to see...

And I like the way this team closes out games for the win.  In a close one, I like M.

Maize4Life

April 1st, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^

Yes...can they do it?  YES... with DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE...and as we saw in the Texas A& M game one Hot night doesnt transfer to the next game...SO lets say we have a TXA&M performance on offense and our stellar Defense and Nova Doesnt have the same performance as last night AND we will probably have a big Home court crowd so it is within the realm of possibility...Now if Nova shoots like last night then were in trouble obviously

SF Wolverine

April 1st, 2018 at 8:51 AM ^

I don't recall all their games, but seems to me they were never materially behind, and that thei games were largely put away early.  Hope they react poorly to some tough D.