Scully’s South Region Free Picks - Will Oregon Continue Late Season Surge?

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#10 Iowa Hawkeyes vs #2 Tennessee Volunteers -8.0

Tennessee lost their focus in first round win, allowing a 14-point lead slip away as 15-seed Colgate rallied to tie game midway through second half behind three-point shooting and good defense, but eventually disposed of their pesky opponent. Look for a more inspired performance against a shaky defensive team. Iowa couldn’t stop anybody at the end of the season, losing five of six games entering tourney, and trailed Cincinnati until their opening-round opponent went absolutely ice-cold from the field. Hawkeyes won’t be good defensively to slow down Tennessee and Vols look poised to dominate the game from start to finish. We’ll lay the points!

South Region Round 32 Free Picks – Tennessee -8

#9 Oklahoma Sooners vs #1 Virginia Cavaliers -10.5

Oklahoma played inspired defense in first round win over Mississippi and have not allowed teams to shoot a high percentage against them all season. Sooners are led by guard Christian James (20 vs Ole Miss) but they’ve come on of late behind the emergence of big man Kristian Doolittle, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds on Friday. He gives Oklahoma the necessary presence inside to be competitive in this spot. Until proven otherwise, Virginia is not a fast-starting team once the regular season ends. They came out sluggish against NC State and Florida St in ACC tourney and were in an absolute funk against Gardner-Webb, trailing by as many as 14 points before being down six at halftime. Cavaliers came back to win by 15 but they’re not shooting the ball as effectively from outside and don’t have a dominant inside presence. Oklahoma enters on the upswing and can cover the double-digit point spread!

South Region Round 32 Free Picks – Oklahoma +10.5

#13 UC-Irvine vs #12 Oregon Ducks -5

Oregon stretched their win streak to nine with an 18-point thrashing of Wisconsin and while the Ducks will eventually meet a rival capable of outscoring them, it won’t be in the second round. Oregon getting outstanding point guard play from Peyton Pritchard (19 points first round) and a dominant inside presence from Kenny Wooten (four blocks), and they bring a defensive intensity to the equation that will prove too much for UC-Irvine. Kudos to UC-Irivine for upset win over Kansas St. Down six at halftime, Anteaters held the Big 12 regular season co-champion to only 34 points in the second-half and UC-Irvine’s 70-point total was typical for the defensive-minded squad. But this is a favorable match-up for surging Oregon. Ducks will make points difficult to come by and pull away in second half to cover!

South Region Round 32 Free Picks – Oregon -5