2016 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 2 Xavier vs. No. 7 Wisconsin

TV Schedule: Sun Mar. 20, 8:40 p.m. ET, TNT

Arena: Scottrade Center-St. Louis, Mo.

Line: Xavier (-4.5)

The Sunday night prime time Round of 32 matchup in the East Region will feature the No. 2 seed Xavier Musketeers and the No. 7 seed Wisconsin Badgers. These two teams won their first round games in very different ways, as Xavier handled No. 15 seed Weber State 71-53 while Wisconsin survived a game that set offensive basketball back 50 years with a 47-43 win over No. 10 seed Pittsburgh.

What To Watch For: Xavier

Xavier started four guards against Weber State on Friday, but frontcourt bruisers Jalen Reynolds (12 points and five rebounds) and James Farr (18 points, 15 rebounds and two blocked shots) led the way as they decisively won the rebounding battle (43-27) and shot better from the floor (48.4 percent to 38.6 percent).

Guards Remy Abell (11 points, 3-for-3 from three-point range) and Trevon Blueitt (10 points and five rebounds) were other two Xavier players to score in double figures against Weber State, and fellow starters Edmond Sumner and Myles Davis combined for 12 assists and 10 rebounds in the game.

Seven players played at least 18 minutes for Xavier in their first round win, and that depth of contributors stands to give them an advantage on Sunday night.

What To Watch For: Wisconsin

Wisconsin scored just 16 points in the first half of Friday night’s game, and they made just over 32 percent of their shots from the floor for the game. Leading the brick-laying charge was Nigel Hayes (3-for-17 from floor, 0-for-6 from beyond the arc) and typically sharp-shooting guard Bronson Koenig (1-for-8 from the floor), who did not make a three-pointer for the first time in 44 games.

Ethan Happ was pretty efficient (6-for-8 from the floor) on his way to team-high 15 points against Pitt, and he also snagged nine rebounds to lead the team. Junior forward Vitto Brown continued his solid recent run with 11 points (3-for-5 from beyond the arc) and three rebounds, and he is now 9-for-13 from beyond the arc over the last three games.

It’s sure to be a bruising, physical, defense-oriented game Sunday night. It may come down to who has a deeper bench, if foul trouble becomes a factor.

Prediction: Xavier 65, Wisconsin 58