Kansas vs Villanova 3/31/18 - Final Four Picks & Predictions

On Saturday, the Kansas Jayhawks, the top seed and winners of the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region play the Villanova Wildcats, the top seed and winners of the East Region, in the Final Four. Kansas needed overtime to prevail on Sunday over Duke 85-81 in its Elite 8 game. The Jayhawks behind Malik Newman outlasted the Blue Devils, as Newman scored all 13 Kansas points in the extra period and ended the game with 32.

Villanova used a tough man-to-man defense to shut down the Texas Tech Red Raiders in their Elite 8 game 71-59. Jalen Brunson led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points for the Wildcats, while Eric Paschall scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Villanova trailed early 9-1, but scored 14 of the next 18 points and closed the first half outscoring Texas Tech 35-14. Devonte’ Graham leads the Jayhawks in scoring with an average of 17.3 points per game. Graham is the leader on the team in assists as well with an average of 7.4 per game. Four other players average double figures in scoring. Udoka Azubuike leads the team in rebounding averaging 7.0 per game. As a team, Kansas is shooting 49.5% from the field and 40.5% from 3-point territory. Kansas scores an average of 81.4 points per game, while allowing an average of 71.0.

Jalen Brunson is the Wildcats leader in points and assists averaging 19.3 points and 4.6 assists per game. Five other players for Villanova are averaging double figures in scoring as Villanova has a balanced offensive attack. Omari Spellman leads the team in rebounds averaging 7.9 per game. As a team, Villanova is shooting 50.3% from the field and 40.5% from 3-point territory. Villanova scores an average of 87.0 points per game, which is No. 1 in the nation, while allowing an average of 70.5.