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The key for each B1G team to advance to the Elite Eight

Connor O'Gara

By Connor O'Gara

Published:

Want to think about something crazy?

By the end of the weekend, we could be talking about 3 B1G teams in the Final Four AND with one of those matchups being Michigan-Michigan State Part IV.

Crazy, right?

Obviously the 3 B1G teams left in the NCAA Tournament have a couple of wins to pick up this weekend to make that dream a reality. In all likelihood, at least one of them will falter in the Sweet 16.

So how do they avoid a Sweet 16 exit? Here’s the key for each B1G team to reach the Elite Eight:

Michigan — Don’t settle for late-shot clock jumpers

Seems like a pretty good premise to live on, right? Michigan has a tendency to fall into that trap and it can result in a relatively stagnant offense. It happened in stretches against Florida, but against a team like Texas Tech’s caliber, that won’t fly.

The Red Raiders are incredibly efficient on defense (3rd in Division I in points allowed) and are plenty capable of either forcing turnovers, or forcing bad shots with the shot clock winding down. That’s what allowed them to roll into the Sweet 16 against a pair of talented opening weekend foes.

Buffalo (19-of-52) and Northern Kentucky (23-of-62) both had bad shooting efforts against Texas Tech’s relentless pressure. How bad, you ask? Buffalo, which was ranked fifth in the country in scoring entering the second round matchup, went 18 (!) consecutive possessions without a made field goal. That’s hard to do.

Michigan can’t afford to have a lack of movement in the half court. The Wolverines, for all of their strengths, don’t have enough shot creators to do that. If it turns into Ignas Brazdeikis taking off-balanced 18-footers with the shot clock winding down, Michigan will be in trouble.

If the Wolverines get a chance to push it in transition, they’ll need to do so. Plays like this would work:

And that’s not to say they need to rush shots, but even in the Florida game, it didn’t seem like Jon Teske got enough low-post touches for the size advantage that Michigan had.

The experienced Red Raiders can push John Beilein’s squad outside of their comfort zone. How they react will determine if another regional title is in the cards.

Michigan State — Master the art of the zone defense

Here’s the good news for Michigan State. LSU has an obvious weakness. It struggles against the zone defense. Like, a lot. Anybody who watched the Tigers in the first 2 rounds could tell you that. That’s why the Maryland game went from an LSU blowout to a down-to-the-wire finish.

Here’s the bad news for Michigan State. The Spartans don’t play a zone. Like, ever.

If that’s the case, MSU needs to at least have it in the back pocket. I don’t expect the Spartans to come out in a zone, but the way other teams have used it effectively against LSU is by switching to it in the second half when the Tigers look like they’re comfortable offensively.

For whatever reason, LSU’s dynamic backcourt of Tremont Waters, Skylar Mays and Javonte Smart just don’t handle it all that well. It suddenly makes freakish big man Naz Reid a non-factor in the game plan and LSU just lacks offensive flow.

Obviously none of that will be lost on Tom Izzo. Whether it’s a 2-3 or a 1-3-1, MSU just needs to have something that can make LSU second-guess how to run its offense. This is where not having head coach Will Wade could cost the Tigers. The Spartans have the length and the athleticism to execute it, if needed.

And on the flip side, it wouldn’t be crazy to see LSU come out in a zone of its own, especially with how much the Spartans struggled against it in last year’s second round loss to Syracuse.

Purdue — Keep Matt Haarms out of foul trouble

You thought I’d say something about getting Carsen Edwards his touches, didn’t you? Edwards is going to get his shots up no matter how closely he’s being guarded. It’ll just depend on if he can knock down a couple early and get into a rhythm.

Haarms, though, is equally important for Purdue against Tennessee. From a size standpoint, he’ll be crucial in forcing Tennessee to try and beat Purdue from the perimeter. The Vols are extremely unselfish and do a great job creating high-percentage looks for each other.

In terms of guys who can shut down 2-time SEC Player of the Year Grant Willams, Haarms might be the Boilermakers’ only realistic chance at doing that. Williams and Admiral Schofield are too savvy to get bottled up by freshmen like Trevion Williams or Aaron Wheeler.

And if Tennessee is going to try anything it can to run Edwards off the 3-point line, there could be looks on the block for Haarms. He seems to be coming into his own offensively at the perfect time. The sophomore averaged 13.9 points in his last 8 games, 7 of which he was in double digits. During that stretch, Harms only missed an average of 2.9 shots per contest, which shows you how much more comfortable he’s getting around the rim.

So yeah, Haarms not picking up a couple of early fouls seems like it would help Purdue get to its first Elite Eight under Matt Painter. A lot.

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.