City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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For the second time in four years, more than half of the Big 5 is in the NCAA Tournament.

Though none are in the East region, where the second weekend takes place at the Wells Fargo Center, there is still a chance for a head-to-head matchup in the second round as Villanova is the 2 seed and Temple is the 10 seed in the South region. They open play on Friday afternoon in Brooklyn. Saint Joseph’s, meanwhile, is a No. 8 seed out in the West region, playing about as far away as possible with a first-round game in Spokane, Wash.

With just days before the teams open NCAA Tournament play, we ask and answer some questions each of the team’s first-round opponents: UNC-Asheville, which plays Villanova; Iowa, which faces Temple and Cincinnati, St. Joe’s first-round foe.

UNC Asheville Bulldogs (22-11, 12-6 Big South)
Coach: Nick McDevitt, 3rd season, 54-42
Last Tournament appearance: 2012, 16 seed lost to No. 1 Syracuse in First Round
Leading scorer: Dylan Smith (Fr. G), 13.5 ppg

How’d UNCA get here?
As the three seed, the Bulldogs ran through the Big South Tournament, knocking off Winthrop in the title game.

Is there any reason Villanova should be worried?
UNC-Asheville is the country’s best team at defending the 3-point line. The Bulldogs held opponents to a 28.4 percentage from beyond the arc this season, and Villanova is certainly a team that relies on the long ball – the Wildcats took the 19th-most treys in Division-I basketball. UNCA has just two players on its roster taller than 6-foot-6, so the Wildcats may have to switch up their gameplan to involve more points in the paint on Friday.

Didn’t UNC-Asheville have that insanely tall guy a few years ago?
OK, maybe you’re not asking this question. But if you’ve followed college hoops closely over the last decade, you probably at least vaguely remember Kenny George. Listed at 7-foot-7, George was one of the tallest college basketball players ever. His UNCA career was limited to just two seasons, and George had to get part of his foot amputated after an infection prior to the 2008 campaign.

Iowa Hawkeyes (21-10, 12-6 Big Ten)
Coach: Fran McCaffery, 6th season, 117-85
Last Tournament appearance: 2015, 7 seed, lost to No. 2 Gonzaga in Second Round
Leading scorer: Jared Uthoff (Sr., F), 18.9 ppg

Wasn’t Iowa in the top 5 a few weeks ago?
Yes. The Hawkeyes were in the top five of the AP poll for four straight weeks, reaching No. 3 in late January. However, Iowa is stumbling into the NCAA Tournament, losers of six of its last eight games. The Hawkeyes were No. 20 in the regular season’s final AP poll before dropping their opening game in the Big Ten Tournament to Illinois, but they proved how capable they are earlier in the season with a pair of wins against both Purdue and Michigan State.

How good is Jared Uthoff?
At Temple’s media briefing on Monday afternoon, Owls coach Fran Dunphy mentioned that he’s heard Uthoff and Dirk Nowitzki “mentioned in the same breath.” So, the 6-foot-9 forward presents obvious matchup problems. A unanimous all-Big Ten first-team selection, Uthoff averaged 18.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. In addition, he is one of the best forwards in the nation at stepping out and knocking down triples. He hit 39.4 percent of his 158 3-point attempts this season, and Iowa shoots it at a 38.2 percent clip from beyond the arc this season.

Fran McCaffery is a Philly guy, right?
Like dozens of other Division-I coaches, McCaffery’s ties to Philadelphia run deep. He was born in the City of Brotherly Love, went to La Salle College High School and transferred to Penn after playing a few seasons at Wake Forest. McCaffery went on to get his coaching start as an assistant at Penn before head coaches stops at Lehigh and Sienna before landing the Iowa job.

Cincinnati Bearcats (22-10, 12-6 American)
Coach: Mick Cronin, 10th season, 207-128
Last Tournament appearance: 2015, 8 seed, lost to No. 1 Kentucky in second round
Leading scorer: Troy Caupain (Jr. G), 13.2 ppg

What is it the Bearcats do well?
Simply put, they defend. Cincinnati has the 10th-best scoring defense in the country, allowing just 62.9 points per game. This Bearcats have held opponents to 60 points or less in 17 games this season, going 16-1 in those contests. But it might not matter for St. Joe’s, which shot 64.5 percent and scored 87 points against VCU in the A-10 title game.

But can they score?
While the Bearcats don’t have one particular player who is a threat to go off for 20+ points a night, they bring a balanced offensive attack. Caupain is their most reliable scorer and he is one of four players to average double figures in scoring. Gary Clark and Farad Cobb both chip in 10.7 ppg and Octavius Ellis averages 10.0 points and 7.7 rebounds for Cronin’s club.

Cincinnati was a bubble team, what did it do to get in?
Obviously 22 wins is a big help, and Cincinnati also beat the teams it was supposed to beat. Out of its 10 losses, three came to ranked opponents and seven (not counting one to ineligible SMU) came against teams in the NCAA Tournament field.