Selection Sunday is done and the tournament field is set. These are five players to watch as the tournament begins on Tuesday with the First Four. These players may not be the best players on their team but they are the players to watch as the tournament opens.
Joseph Young, Oregon (faces Oklahoma State in the second round)
Oregon reached the Pac-12 championship game and that was fueled by Pac-12 player of the year Joseph Young. The Ducks will face ninth seeded Oklahoma State in the first round and Young looks to build on his 20.2 point per game average. Young scored 25 or points ten times this season and shot 91.8% from the free throw line. A caution with Young, though, is that he only had a 1.54 assist to turnover ratio and shot 35.3% from three point range. The Ducks’ offense will be fueled by Young and looks to knock off Oklahoma State.
Rico Gathers, Baylor (faces Georgia State in the second round)
Rico Gathers of Baylor is a double-double machine, he had 17 this season, and averaged 11.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. Baylor looks to dismiss Georgia State in the second round, Xavier in third round and then is looking forward to Arizona in the Sweet 16. Gathers would serve Baylor well against the strength of Arizona inside. Gathers has had four games where he had 15 or more points and 15 or more rebounds and has seen his free throw percentage raise in each of the past three seasons, to 61.5% in 2014-2015.
Monte Morris, Iowa State (faces UAB in the second round)
Monte Morris led the Big 12 champions Iowa State and will fuel the Cyclones into the NCAA tournament against UAB. Morris led the NCAA in assist to turnover ration, posting a 4.9 ratio, and scored 11.8 points per game on 50.5% shooting from the field and 40% shooting on three point goals. Morris turned the ball over more than twice only twice this season and added to the Cyclones with steals as well, posting nine games with three or more steals. Look for the floor general for the Cyclones to lead Iowa State well past the first weekend.
Jordan Mickey, LSU (faces NC State in the second round)
LSU will be in an eight/nine matchup with NC State and the game will be decided by the big men for the Tigers, with none better than Jordan Mickey. He has blocked more than 100 shots in each of the past two seasons, 107 in 2014-2015, and had 15.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game this season. His shot blocking will make a huge difference, as he has had five or more blocks in a game ten times this season, and he also had 15 double-doubles this season. Mickey has improved a lot this season and should lead the Tigers to a win over NC State.
Tyler Harvey, Eastern Washington (faces Georgetown in the second round)
Eastern Washington may be a low seed in the tournament, but they have the highest scoring player in the nation in Tyler Harvey, who scored 22.9 points per game and made nearly four three point field goals per game. Harvey scored 30 or more points five times this year and ten times had five or more three point field goals in a game; he also shot 47% from the field, 42.8% from three point range, and 84.5% from the free throw line. Eastern Washington will play a very vulnerable Georgetown as a 13 seed in the first round and look for Harvey to have a big game against the Hoyas. He scored 25 points against fellow NCAA tournament team Indiana on the road and look for him to score 25 or more points against the Hoyas.