NCAA Tournament: Sacramento sub-region team capsules; coaches, records, rankings, players
The Sacramento sub-regional will bring three of the nation’s Top 25 teams to Golden 1 Center for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
The headliners are No. 7 UCLA and No. 8 Arizona, Pac-12 Conference rivals who clashed in the championship game of their conference tournament on Saturday. No. 23 Missouri is also coming to Sacramento following its loss to fourth-ranked Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
UCLA won the Pac-12 this season, but Arizona won the conference tournament. The Bruins and Wildcats won’t meet again in Sacramento because they are seeded in different regions, but there will be intriguing matchups, spirited battles and maybe a little magic. Will this mark the start of another deep NCAA Tournament run for second-seeded UCLA and coach Mick Cronin? Will No. 15 seeds Princeton and UNC Asheville emerge as Cinderella stories?
Anything can happen. That’s why they call it March Madness.
NCAA Tournament
Sacramento sub-region
Thursday’s first-round games
No. 7 Missouri vs. No. 10 Utah State, 10:30 a.m. (TNT)
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 15 Princeton, 1:30 p.m. (TNT)
No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Boise State, 4:35 p.m. (TruTV)
No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 15 UNC Asheville, 7:05 p.m. (TruTV)
Saturday’s second-round games
UCLA/UNC Asheville winner vs. Northwestern/Boise State winner
Arizona/Princeton winner vs. Missouri/Utah State winner
Team-by-team capsules
Arizona
Coach: Tommy Lloyd, 2nd season
Record: 28-6, 14-6 Pac-12
Seeding: No. 2 in South Region
National ranking: No. 8
Inside stuff: The Wildcats are 61-10 in two seasons under Lloyd, who spent 20 years as Mark Few’s most trusted assistant at Gonzaga before going to Arizona. The team is led by forward Azuolas Tubelis, who averages 19.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Seven-foot center Oumar Ballo patrols the paint, averaging 14.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.
Boise State
Coach: Leon Rice, 13th season
Record: 24-9, 13-5 Mountain West Conference
Seeding: No. 10 in West Region
National ranking: Not ranked
Inside stuff: The Broncos are enjoying their 10th 20-win season under Rice, who is taking them to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. This team is balanced with Tyson Degenhart, Max Rice, Marcus Shaver Jr., Chibuzo Agbo and Naje Smith all averaging at least 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds. Rice and Agbo are both 40% 3-point shooters.
Missouri
Coach: Dennis Gates, 1st season
Record: 24-9, 11-7 Southeastern Conference
Seeding: No. 7 in South Region
National ranking: No. 23
Inside stuff: Gates has led the Tigers to the Big Dance in his first season at Mizzou. On Friday, he was handsomely rewarded with a lucrative contract extension through the 2028-29 season. Kobe Brown averages 15.8 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 44.7% from beyond the arc. D’Moi Hodge is averaging 14.8 ppg and shooting 40.1% from 3-point range.
Northwestern
Coach: Chris Collins, 10th season
Record: 21-10, 12-8 Ben Ten Conference
Seeding: No. 7 in West Region
National ranking: Not ranked
Inside stuff: The Wildcats are making their second NCAA Tournament appearance under Collins and their first since 2017, when they won a first-round game. Guard Boo Buie averages a team-high 17.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He isn’t a high-percentage shooter, but he got to the free-throw line 463 times this season, shooting 87.1%.
Princeton
Coach: Mitch Henderson, 11th season
Record: 21-8, 10-4 Ivy League
Seeding: No. 15 in South Region
National ranking: Not ranked
Inside stuff: The Tigers are making their second NCAA Tournament appearance under Henderson, who played for Princeton from 1994-98 and has now led his alma mater to six 20-win seasons as head coach. The team’s top player is forward Tosan Evbuomwan, who is averaging 14.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
UCLA
Coach: Mick Cronin, 4th season
Record: 29-5, 18-2 Pac-12 Conference
Seeding: No. 2 in West Region
National ranking: No. 7
Inside stuff: The Bruins won the Pac-12 regular season title but lost to Arizona in the championship game of the conference tournament. Guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. is averaging 17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals. Cronin led the Bruins to the Final Four in 2021 and the Sweet 16 in 2022. This trip to Sacramento could mark the start of another deep run.
UNC Asheville
Coach: Mike Morrell, 5th season
Record: 27-7, 16-2 Big South Conference
Seeding: No. 15 in West Region
National ranking: Not ranked
Inside stuff: The Bulldogs are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance under Morrell. Drew Pember, a 6-foot-10 senior forward, has been a force, averaging 21.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. Pember, Tajion Jones and Fletcher Abee are all 3-point bombers. Jones averages 15.0 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Utah State
Coach: Ryan Odom, 2nd season
Record: 26-8, 13-5 Mountain West Conference
Seeding: No. 10 in South Region
National ranking: Not ranked
Inside stuff: The Aggies have depth and balance with five players averaging in double figures. Guard Steven Ashworth is putting up 16.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Forward Taylor Funk averages 13.3 points and 5.5 assists. Forward Dan Akin is averaging 12.0 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds.
