SPOKANE, Wash. — The Auburn Tigers and Yale Bulldogs along with the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Charleston Cougars will square off on Friday in Spokane, Washington in the opening round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
Auburn Tigers play the Yale Bulldogs in first round of NCAA Tournament
The Tigers have gone 16-5 against SEC teams, with an 11-2 record in non-conference play. Auburn averages 17.9 assists per game to lead the SEC, paced by Tre Donaldson with 3.2.
The Bulldogs' record in Ivy League play is 13-3. Yale is second in the Ivy League with 8.6 offensive rebounds per game led by Danny Wolf averaging 2.1.
Auburn makes 47.5% of its shots from the field this season, which is 6.0 percentage points higher than Yale has allowed to its opponents (41.5%). Yale averages 7.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.5 more made shots on average than the 5.8 per game Auburn allows.
TOP PERFORMERS: Aden Holloway averages 1.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Tigers, scoring 7.6 points while shooting 30.8% from beyond the arc. Johni Broome is shooting 52.0% and averaging 16.9 points over the past 10 games.
Wolf is averaging 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds for the Bulldogs. August Mahoney is averaging 2.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 8-2, averaging 85.7 points, 34.4 rebounds, 18.4 assists, 7.2 steals and 6.8 blocks per game while shooting 50.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.2 points per game.
Bulldogs: 7-3, averaging 73.6 points, 35.2 rebounds, 16.7 assists, 5.9 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.2 points.
Alabama and Charleston (SC) play in first round of NCAA Tournament
No. 19 Alabama and Charleston (SC) meet in the NCAA Tournament opening round.
The Crimson Tide have gone 13-6 against SEC teams, with an 8-5 record in non-conference play. Alabama ranks third in the SEC in rebounding with 39.6 rebounds. Grant Nelson leads the Crimson Tide with 5.7 boards.
The Cougars' record in CAA play is 18-3. Charleston (SC) ranks sixth in the CAA shooting 34.5% from 3-point range.
Alabama makes 47.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.7 percentage points higher than Charleston (SC) has allowed to its opponents (44.0%). Charleston (SC) averages 80.5 points per game, 0.6 fewer than the 81.1 Alabama gives up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mark Sears is scoring 21.1 points per game with 4.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists for the Crimson Tide. Aaron Estrada is averaging 14.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.8 assists and two steals over the last 10 games.
Reyne Smith is shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc with 3.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Cougars, while averaging 12.8 points. Frankie Policelli is averaging 11.6 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Crimson Tide: 5-5, averaging 92.7 points, 39.7 rebounds, 16.7 assists, 5.9 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 94.0 points per game.
Cougars: 10-0, averaging 79.3 points, 37.3 rebounds, 16.7 assists, 7.7 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.0 points.