{"id":101800,"date":"2019-03-30T09:16:01","date_gmt":"2019-03-30T16:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=101800"},"modified":"2019-03-30T09:16:01","modified_gmt":"2019-03-30T16:16:01","slug":"ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Games on Saturday Feature Basketball Teams with Contrasting Styles"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first two tickets to the Final Four get punched on Saturday night in the NCAA Basketball Tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rui Hachimura grabs a rebound for Gonzaga in a regular season game at Loyola Marymount. He has a chance to lead the Bulldogs to their second Final Four in three years on Saturday. (Image: GoZags.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Anaheim, Calif., top-seeded Gonzaga seeks its second trip to the national semifinals in three seasons as the Bulldogs face Texas Tech, which has reached this stage for the second consecutive year, in the West Regional Final.<\/p>\n

In Louisville, Ky., a pair of schools seeking their first Final Four in more than 35 years face each other in the South Final. Top-seeded Virginia, which last made the Final Four in 1984, gets a Purdue squad that hasn\u2019t reached the semifinals since 1980.<\/p>\n

Gonzaga opened as a 3.5-point favorite against the Red Raiders, and that line moved to four points by Saturday morning. Virginia is a 4.5-point favorite against the Boilermakers.<\/p>\n

The West Final tips at 6:09 pm ET, with the South Final following. TBS will broadcast both games, and NCAA.com will offer live streaming through its March Madness Live website.<\/p>\n

Defense Versus Offense in West<\/h2>\n

Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said in a Friday press conference he respects the way Gonzaga has built its program. The Bulldogs have made the NCAA Tournament each of the past 21 seasons.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t want to just be an organization that has one good season or one good team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to be a program. That word means everything in college basketball, and I think Gonzaga has done this over many years with consistency. The roster changes, but the level of excellence stays the same.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Red Raiders win with their defense as they hold opponents to just 59.2 points per game, the third-lowest average in Division I basketball. On Thursday\u2019s Sweet 16 matchup, they limited Michigan to 32 percent shooting in a dominating 63-44 victory.<\/p>\n

Jarrett Culver, the team\u2019s leading scorer (18.9 points per game) scored 22 in the win.<\/p>\n

While Texas Tech does it with defense, Gonzaga wins thanks to its offense. The Bulldogs, who average a D-I best 88.2 points per game also lead the country in shooting at 52.8 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to a great battle tomorrow night,\u201d Gonzaga coach Mark Few said in his Friday press conference.<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura averages 19.6 points a game for Gonzaga. He scored 17 to lead four players in double figures Thursday in the Bulldogs 72-58 victory over Florida State.<\/p>\n

Defense Versus Offense, Part II<\/h2>\n

Much like the teams out West, Purdue and Virginia reached the Elite Eight in contrasting styles.<\/p>\n

Purdue relied on strong performances by Carsen Edwards (29 points) and Ryan Cline (27 points) to beat Tennessee 99-94 in overtime<\/a> Thursday night. Cline scored 22 of his points in the second half, and Edwards sank two free throws with 1.7 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.<\/p>\n

Cline made his last eight shots to help the Boilermakers overcome losing an 18-point deficit in the second half.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThere were times in the second half I was coming off and I knew I was going to shoot it,\u201d he said after Thursday\u2019s game. \u201cMy teammates did a great job of getting me open and giving me the opportunity.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Virginia meanwhile beat Oregon 53-49. Ty Jerome gave the Cavaliers the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 3:30 left, and his teammates held the Ducks without a bucket for the final 5:43.<\/p>\n

“We were communicating, we were scrambling, keeping guys in front, rebounding,\u201d said forward De\u2019Andre Hunter, whose team leads the country in defensive scoring. \u201cWe were doing all the things we’re practice every day. I mean, I think those last five minutes just shows how great we can be.”<\/p>\n

Expect a defensive affair as the over-under at most sportsbooks is at 126.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first two tickets to the Final Four get punched on Saturday night in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. In Anaheim, Calif., top-seeded Gonzaga seeks its second trip to the national semifinals in three seasons as the Bulldogs face Texas Tech, which has reached this stage for the second consecutive year, in the West Regional Final. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":101802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNCAA Basketball Tournament Games Saturday Feature Contrasting Styles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Both the South and West regional finals feature offensive-minded teams versus teams with lock-down defenses. The winners tonight advance to next Saturday's Final Four in Minneapolis.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NCAA Basketball Tournament Games Saturday Feature Contrasting Styles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Both the South and West regional finals feature offensive-minded teams versus teams with lock-down defenses. The winners tonight advance to next Saturday's Final Four in Minneapolis.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-30T16:16:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Hacimura-ncaa.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/\",\"name\":\"NCAA Basketball Tournament Games Saturday Feature Contrasting Styles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Hacimura-ncaa.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-30T16:16:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-30T16:16:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\"},\"description\":\"Both the South and West regional finals feature offensive-minded teams versus teams with lock-down defenses. The winners tonight advance to next Saturday's Final Four in Minneapolis.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Hacimura-ncaa.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Hacimura-ncaa.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1125,\"caption\":\"(Image: GoZags.com)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sports\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Games on Saturday Feature Basketball Teams with Contrasting Styles\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\",\"name\":\"Steve Bittenbender\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Steve Bittenbender\"},\"description\":\"Steve Bittenbender covers Midwest and Gulport news for Casino.org. He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. Contact Steve at stevebittenbender@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/steve-bittenbender\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NCAA Basketball Tournament Games Saturday Feature Contrasting Styles","description":"Both the South and West regional finals feature offensive-minded teams versus teams with lock-down defenses. The winners tonight advance to next Saturday's Final Four in Minneapolis.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NCAA Basketball Tournament Games Saturday Feature Contrasting Styles","og_description":"Both the South and West regional finals feature offensive-minded teams versus teams with lock-down defenses. The winners tonight advance to next Saturday's Final Four in Minneapolis.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-03-30T16:16:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1125,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Hacimura-ncaa.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Bittenbender","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve Bittenbender","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/","name":"NCAA Basketball Tournament Games Saturday Feature Contrasting Styles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Hacimura-ncaa.jpg","datePublished":"2019-03-30T16:16:01+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-30T16:16:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2"},"description":"Both the South and West regional finals feature offensive-minded teams versus teams with lock-down defenses. The winners tonight advance to next Saturday's Final Four in Minneapolis.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Hacimura-ncaa.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Hacimura-ncaa.jpg","width":2000,"height":1125,"caption":"(Image: GoZags.com)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ncaa-tournament-elite-eight-games-on-saturday-feature-basketball-teams-with-contrasting-styles\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sports","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Games on Saturday Feature Basketball Teams with Contrasting Styles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2","name":"Steve Bittenbender","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png","caption":"Steve Bittenbender"},"description":"Steve Bittenbender covers Midwest and Gulport news for Casino.org. He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. Contact Steve at stevebittenbender@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/steve-bittenbender\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101800"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}