NCAA TOURNAMENT IN BOISE: TEN NAMES YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE GAMES START THURSDAY IN TACO BELL ARENA

Posted on March 14, 2018

BY MIKE PRATER
@KTIK.COM

It’s the NCAA Tournament – one of the biggest stages in all of sports. There are 68 basketball teams in the field and everyone has a superstar, or two or three, on their roster. Here are 10 names you need to know before the games are played at Taco Bell Arena in Boise on Thursday and Saturday:

PEYTON ALDRIDGE, DAVIDSON, F, NO. 23: He’s not the next Steph Curry, the program’s most famous alum, but the 6-8 senior is still a monster presence on the court. The Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Year and former high school quarterback is averaging 21.5 points and 7.8 rebounds a game. He has started every game of his career.

DEANDRE AYTON, ARIZONA, F/C, NO. 13: The 7-1, 250-pounder has freakish size and ability – and could be the No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft. The freshman one-and-done is averaging 20.3 points and 11.5 rebounds a game, and was just named the Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

KEITA BATES-DIOP, OHIO STATE, F, NO. 33: The 6-7 Big Ten Player of the Year and second-team All-American is essentially a more polished version of Boise State standout Chandler Hutchison, also a NBA prospect with a true position and body type the NBA covets. Bates-Diop is averaging 19.4 points and 8.8 rebounds a game.

MIKE DAUM, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE, F, NO. 24: “The Dauminator” is the Summit League Player of the Year, is one of the best shooters/scorers in all of college basketball, and an NBA prospect. The junior is averaging 23.8 a game this season and has scored 2,205 career points. Named the nation’s fourth best power forward by Gary Parrish of CBS Sports.

SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER, KENTUCKY, PG, NO. 22: The lanky freshman was voted the SEC Tournament MVP and leads the Wildcats in assists (171) and steals (54). Has scored in double figures in 18 of his last 23 games. An emerging NBA prospect.

RUI HACHIMURA, GONZAGA, F, NO. 21: A rock star in his native Japan, the 6-8 sophomore has played well at Gonzaga and has emerged as an NBA prospect. The All-West Coast first-team player this season makes 57.4 percent of his shots and is averaging 11.3 points a game.

KEVIN KNOX, KENTUCKY, F, NO. 5: The 6-9 Knox is another potential NBA lottery pick in the Boise field. He is the SEC Co-Freshman of the Year and is averaging a team-high 15.6 points and 5.4 rebounds a game.

BOB McKILLOP, DAVIDSON, COACH: The Boise bracket is loaded with big coaching names – Mark Few (Gonzaga), Sean Miller (Arizona) and John Calipari (Kentucky) – but McKillop has his own intriguing story. He’s in his 29th season with the North Carolina program, has won 554 games, and once was smart enough to give Steph Curry a college scholarship when a lot of other college coaches didn’t.

JOSH PERKINS. GONZAGA, G, NO. 13: Perkins drives the engine for the Zags, shooting a team-high 3-pointers (80-of-196, 40.8 percent) and leading the team with 182 assists.

JOHNATHAN WILLIAMS, GONZAGA, F, NO. 3: The leading scorer on a balanced roster, averaging 13.5 points a game on the strength of 56.6 shooting. He also averages a team-high 8.3 rebounds a game.

THURSDAY’S GAME SCHEDULE AT TACO BELL ARENA

  • No. 4 Gonzaga (30-4) vs. No. 13 UNC Greensboro (27-7), 11:30 a.m. (TNT)
  • No. 5 Ohio State (24-8) vs. No. 12 South Dakota State (28-6), approximately 2 p.m. (TNT)
  • No. 5 Kentucky (24-10) vs. No. 12 Davidson (21-11), 5:10 p.m. (CBS)
  • No. 4 Arizona (27-7) vs. No. 13 Buffalo (26-8), approximately 7:40 p.m. (CBS)
  • SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE TBD

Mike Prater, editor of The Opinionator, co-hosts Idaho Sports Talk with Caves & Prater weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on KTIK 93.1 FM The Ticket and can be heard on Bronco GameNight after BSU football games on KBOI 670 AM and KTIK 93.1 FM. He can be reached at [email protected], and found @CavesandPrater(Facebook) and @MikeFPrater (Twitter).

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