March Madness Final Four closes out tournament

After an expected heartbreaking and amazing few weeks, the classic NCAA March Madness tournament is coming to a close.
Only a few weeks ago, sixty-eight hungry teams were prepping for a shot at a national title. Now, only four remain. This year, the Final Four is composed of Villanova, UNC (University of North Carolina), Oklahoma University, and the Syracuse Orangemen.
This year has been upsetting for some and surprising for others. As always, brackets were busted but in an extreme manner this year. On the popular ESPN Tournament Challenge app, there are zero remaining perfect brackets out of millions entered.
So, it’s safe to say that this year’s tournament has indeed lived up to the madness.
On Saturday, the first of two games will take place at NRG Stadium in Houston at 6:30 Saturday night. The game will feature Villanova against Oklahoma, both of which are number two seeds.
Oklahoma boasts a 29-7 record and has been on a roll this season, largely in part to their star player, Buddy Hield.
The six-foot four Senior guard has been on fire throughout the season, especially the NCAA tournament. In the Elite Eight, he put up a stellar performance, scoring thirty-seven points against number one seed, Oregon. The rest of the team only scored eighty. He also averages thirty points per game and is shooting 50.4% from the three-point line.
Villanova is said to be the more discipline of the two, and at 33-5, their record shows it. As a team, they are more rounded and have an all-around good group of guys that create an amazing defense. This defense will have to show up on Saturday if they want to slow down Buddy.
Also, the team needs their star, Daniel Ochefu going early on. The six foot eleven “big man” is shooting sixty percent for two point shots and averages seven point six rebounds per game. He could play a big role in keeping the ball away from Buddy.
In the second matchup, Syracuse will be taking on UNC at 8:30.
The Orangemen have been somewhat if a “Cinderella story” team this year, rising to the top as a low ten seed. As for North Carolina, they are the only number one seed left.
Syracuse is led by Freshman talent in Malachi Richardson and Tyler Lydon. The two definitely aren’t the entire team, but they sure helped get them to the Final Four.
Richardson averages 14.5 point per game in the tournament and Lydon averages 10.2 with 6.3 rebounds.
Syracuse coach, Jim Boeheim told ESPN, “He (Richardson) had a bad tournament going until we needed him, when we needed him, he was there. He had arguably one of the best halves of basketball that any player’s had in this tournament or many other tournaments, what he did.”
As for UNC, many believe they will outright win this game. This is largely in part to star Senior guard, Marcus Paige. Paige averages 12.3 points per game this season and is a leader on the court.
UNC coach, Roy Williams spoke about Paige saying, “Marcus was phenomenal as a sophomore — phenomenal. He had as good a year as I’ve ever had a backcourt player play. And if you go in that locker room and ask Marcus if he enjoyed his sophomore or senior year more, he’ll tell you he enjoyed this one more.”
Both games are shaping to be quite the matchup as this is sure a tournament to remember.