Most of this has been summarized elsewhere, but it is fun to look back.
Through Saturday’s NCAA Tournament Games (58 games)
Fastest Paced Games
Possessions, Teams
87 North Carolina vs Radford
83 Memphis vs Missouri
81 UConn vs Chattanooga
78 North Carolina vs Gonzaga
75 UConn vs Missouri
Slowest Paced Games
56 Florida St vs Wisconsin
57 Arizona St. vs Temple
59 Marquette vs Utah St.
59 West Virginia vs Dayton
59 Gonzaga vs Akron
Interestingly, Gonzaga played a game in both categories.
Let’s now move to the PPP or points per 100 possessions.
Most Impressive Wins
Largest PPP Differential
69.1 UConn defeats Chattanooga
56.4 Louisville defeats Arizona
49.7 North Carolina defeats Radford
40.4 Oklahoma defeats Morgan St.
39.5 UConn defeats Texas A&M
Best Offense
Highest points PPP
148.9 Louisville vs Arizona
140.0 UConn vs Texas A&M
134.4 Memphis vs Maryland
132.2 Pittsburgh vs Oklahoma St.
130.8 Gonzaga vs Akron
Worst Offense
Lowest PPP
57.9 Chattanooga vs UConn
60.0 Dayton vs Kansas
63.5 Stephen F. Austin vs Syracuse
67.0 Radford vs North Carolina
73.1 Duke vs Villanova
Who would have guessed that Duke would have had one of the worst offensive performances of the tournament?
Win without defense award
Highest PPP for loser
132.2 over 119.6 Pittsburgh defeats Oklahoma St
118.3 over 115.3 Oklahoma St. defeats Tennessee
117.1 over 114.1 Villanova defeats Pittsburgh
116.3 over 113.5 Gonzaga defeats Western Kentucky
116.8 over 111.1 Missouri defeats Marquette
Win without offense award
Lowest PPP for winner
83.8 over 60.0 Kansas defeats Dayton
85.2 over 63.5 Syracuse defeats Stephen F. Austin
89.3 over 86.9 Siena defeats Ohio St.
93.1 over 76.0 Xavier defeats Wisconsin
95.4 over 87.5 Pittsburgh defeats Xavier
The story of Pittsburgh has been the improved offense (through offensive rebounding). But in this tournament, Pittsburgh’s story was going from one extreme to the other. Pittsburgh won a “no offense” game and went 1-1 in games with “no defense”.
Best eFG%
68.2% Louisville vs Arizona
Worst eFG%
25.0% Dayton vs Kansas
Dayton really played tough in that game against Kansas, but they couldn’t buy a basket.
Best TO%
6.5% Missouri vs Cornell
Worst TO%
31.5% Kansas vs Michigan St.
Michigan St. fans have come to dread the word “turnovers”, but things went well against Kansas.
Best OR%
54.3% Pittsburgh vs Oklahoma St.
Worst OR%
12.3% Gonzaga vs North Carolina
A lot of people felt Gonzaga was soft, and this number will back that up.
Best FTR
72.6 Missouri vs Memphis
Worst FTR
8.1 American vs Villanova
Memphis probably thought when the whistles came out early against Missouri that this was good news. How wrong they were.