No. 12 seed Winthrop (23-1) vs. No. 5 seed Villanova (16-6)
NCAA Tournament First Round, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis; Friday, 8:57 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Winthrop and Villanova are set to square off in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Winthrop blew out Campbell by 27 on March 3, while Villanova fell to Georgetown last week, 72-71.
VETERAN PRESENCE: Senior leadership could play a big role in this game’s outcome. Jermaine Samuels, Collin Gillespie and Caleb Daniels have combined to score 45 percent of Villanova’s points this season. For Winthrop, Chandler Vaudrin, Adonis Arms and Charles Falden have combined to account for 40 percent of the team’s total scoring.
FUELING THE OFFENSE: Vaudrin has either made or assisted on 43 percent of all Winthrop field goals over the last three games. Vaudrin has accounted for 13 field goals and 25 assists in those games.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Wildcats have recently gotten baskets via assists more often than the Eagles. Villanova has an assist on 42 of 69 field goals (60.9 percent) across its previous three games while Winthrop has assists on 52 of 88 field goals (59.1 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Villanova has turned the ball over on just 13.7 percent of its possessions this season, which is the third-lowest percentage among all Division I teams. The Wildcats have turned the ball over only nine times per game this season.
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