NCAA Tournament Preview: North Dakota State vs Kansas

Written March 18, 2009 by Jack Jones

north-dakota-state-kansas-ncaa-tournament-preview-031809 The #3 seed Kansas Jayhawks out of the Big 12 conference will face the #14 seed North Dakota State Bison from the Summit League in first round NCAA tournament action. Kansas finished the regular season at 25-7 with a 14-2 record in the Big 12, a surprise to many that thought this would be a rebuilding year for the Jayhawks. North Dakota State enjoyed similar success this season, albeit against less than stellar opponents. The Bison ended the regular season at 26-6 overall with a 16-2 record in the Summit, winning the regular season conference title as well as the title in the conference championship game. All things considered, this is a game that Kansas should win, but North Dakota should not be taken lightly. Odds makers have Kansas -10 against ND State.

ND State is led on the court by super-guard Ben Woodside. Woodside was a beast in the Summit League this season, averaging 22.8 points per game by hitting nearly 46% from the floor and almost 43% from three-point range. The Bison also have a sharp scoring forward in Brett Winkelman who finished the regular season averaging 18.7 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game. Winkelman thrived against the Summit League, but I consider him undersized as a forward in the tournament at 6-6 220 lbs. Woodside is the real key for the Bison. If he is on Friday afternoon and can find open shots from the perimeter North Dakota State has a shot to stay in the game, if he’s not they get blown out.

Kansas played great in their regular season, their only conference losses coming at Texas Tech and at Missouri. There is some concern with their performance in the Big 12 conference tournament as they lost to Baylor 64-71, but don’t over compensate by that thinking that the Jayhawks are going to falter in the first round of the tournament. The obvious stand out on the court for Kansas is Sherron Collins. Collins averaged 18.2 points and 5.0 assists per game for the Jayhawks in the regular season, and with tournament experience I believe he can take his game to another level. Kansas has enough size in the middle to take North Dakota State’s second leading scorer, Winkelman, out of the game and put all of the scoring burden on Ben Woodside. If they are able to do that, Collins and the rest of the Jayhawk offense will pull Kansas ahead early and close the door on the Bison’s upset hopes. Bet the first round of the tournament at BetUS.

For those of you looking to do a little NCAA Tournament Betting this weekend, be sure to check out our expert NCAA basketball picks and make sure you have the best college basketball odds at Betfirms.

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