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Action in the South Region will kick off at 1:40 p.m. ET on Thursday afternoon when the Colorado Buffaloes and Connecticut Huskies square off for the right to likely play Kansas in the second round of the tournament. The 21-11 Buffaloes come in losers of two of their last three games while the 24-10 Huskies have won four in a row, including the AAC tournament championship.
The Buffaloes’ biggest strength is down low where Josh Scott patrols the paint. The senior forward is averaging 16.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game and his frontcourt partner, Wesley Gordon, averages 7.2 points and 7.6 rebounds as the Buffaloes are fourth in the nation in rebounding. Tad Boyle‘s club wants to get the ball inside which allows them to kick the ball back out to shooters George King, Dominique Collier and Josh Fortune when the defense doubles down.
Offensively, Connecticut struggled most of the season as head coach Kevin Ollie tried and tried to find a rotation that would gel. With freshman Jalen Adams and graduate transfers Shonn Miller and Sterling Gibbs, it was a bit of a feeling out process for the Huskies. As evidenced by their play in the AAC tournament, Ollie has finally found that chemistry and the Huskies are playing their best ball of the season.
While the offense has been a work in progress for Connecticut, the defense has been lights out all year long. The Huskies are No. 15 in the nation, as they only allow 63.2 points per game and a lot of the credit can go to their length. Miller, Daniel Hamilton, Rodney Purvis and Amida Brimah all stand 6-foot-4 or taller and have extremely long arms. They’re able to alter shots and get their hands in passing lanes which causes problems for the offense.
This should be a great matchup between two athletic teams. The key for Connecticut will be for Brimah to stay out of foul trouble. He should be able to cause problems for Scott down low, but he can’t pick up dumb fouls like he tends to do. For the Buffaloes, Hamilton is the guy who makes the Huskies go, so slowing him down will be paramount to winning the game.
I’m going to lean with Connecticut in this one, as they’re playing better coming in and they play such great defense. A team never knows if it’s going to knock down shots from one day to the next, but defense will always be there and the Huskies can certainly defend.
Prediction: Connecticut 74, Colorado 70
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