2016 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 7 Oregon State vs. No. 10 VCU

In what should be one of the most exciting games of the Round of 64, the Oregon State Beavers will take on the VCU Rams. The Rams will be appearing in the NCAA tournament for the sixth-straight season while the Beavers are dancing for the first time since 1990.

The 19-12 Beavers seem to have gotten a favorable seed from the selection committee. Although the Pac-12 was really good this year, their best non-conference win was against Tulsa which also should’ve never been in the tournament. Oregon State enters the tourney having won four of their last six.

The Rams enter the 2016 NCAA tournament with a 24-10 record. They’ve also won four of their last six games, although they were upended by the Saint Joseph’s Hawks in the Atlantic 10 tournament.

What To Watch For

Oregon State is led by senior guard Gary Payton II who averages 15.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists. While the Beavers are extremely reliant upon Payton, the team took it to another level when freshman Tres Tinkle started to figure things out in January. Unfortunately, Tinkle, who is the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, will miss this game with a foot injury that he suffered a few weeks ago.

Although Shaka Smart has moved on, the Rams still run the ‘Havoc’ style that he implemented. The Rams are forcing an average of 15.2 turnovers per game this season which is tied for 17th in the country. Guards Doug Brooks, JeQuan Lewis, Melvin Johnson and Korey Billbury all average north of one steal per game.

Offensively, the Rams are led by Johnson, Billbury and Lewis who average a combined 39.7 points, 10 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. In addition, forwards Mo Alie-Cox and Justin Tillman combine to pitch in 17.7 points and 13.5 rebounds.

The VCU defense is one of the hardest to play against in the country as it tends to wear teams down. Without Tinkle, an already thin team will be down another body which will play into the Rams’ favor. Payton II will be the best player on the court in this game, but I don’t think he’ll have enough help.

Prediction: VCU 78, Oregon State 65