4 of 8 Harry How/Getty Images What We've Learned: Those late defensive struggles were just a smokescreen. Texas Tech gave up 73 points to Iowa State in the regular-season finale and then let West Virginia put up 79 in the Big 12 tournament. For a team that only allowed 73 points (in regulation) twice in its first 30 games, it was weird to see the defense broken like that—especially by a West Virginia team that struggled on offense all year and mustered just 50 points in a 75-possession game against the Red Raiders in February. That vaunted Texas Tech D is back, though. The Red Raiders held Northern Kentucky, Buffalo and Michigan to 53.0 points per game and an absurd 80.3 points per 100 possessions. Prior to C.J. Baird making a meaningless three as time expired, Michigan was 0-of-18 from downtown against this unyielding D. They now have an adjusted defensive efficiency of 84.4. That's tied with 2014-15 (38-1) Kentucky for the second-best mark in KenPom history, just barely behind that of 2008-09 Memphis (84.2). Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Jarrett Culver. The soon-to-be lottery pick is a big part of TTU's defensive prowess on the perimeter, but he's also the most important offensive weapon. Culver has led the Red Raiders in scoring in all three rounds, averaging 22.3 points per game. He is only 10-of-39 (25.6 percent) from three-point range over his last eight games—1-of-9 in the last two contests—but he is an ever-present threat to bury a dagger, scoring at least 15 points in 11 straight. X-Factor: Secondary scoring. Davide Moretti finally hit a few threes in the win over Michigan to end his tourney drought, but the big question all year for Texas Tech has been: Who shows up on offense aside from Culver? Moretti, Matt Mooney and Tariq Owens are each more than capable of putting points on the board. However, Moretti is threes-or-bust, and neither Mooney nor Owens has tallied more than 16 in a game since January. Texas Tech doesn't need much scoring to support this defense, but it could win it all if those three secondary scorers reach double digits in each remaining game. Championship Blueprint: Do not let up on defense. Every red-hot offense eventually runs into an off night in the tournament, and that seems to be the case for elite defenses, too. Virginia immediately had its UMBC disaster in the first round last year. Gonzaga had a few let-ups in 2017. Even that incredible Kentucky team had a pair of less-than-stellar performances once it started running into great shooters in the Elite Eight. Just to reach the Final Four, Texas Tech will need to shut down a Gonzaga offense that ranks as one of the most efficient in KenPom history. After that, either Duke or Michigan State would be waiting with yet another sensational offense. And similar to the Michigan team that TTU just trounced, it doesn't have the offensive firepower to win a game played in the 70s or 80s. If the Red Raiders can keep these games at their preferred pace, though, they have a shot.<doc-sep>0 of 16 Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images With all of the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds still playing in the 2019 NCAA men's college basketball tournament, this might be the best Sweet 16 ever assembled. Power-ranking these 16 teams was no easy task, even with the given that all four No. 1 seeds belong up top and that the only remaining team seeded lower than No. 5 belongs at the bottom. For the most part—let's call it 80 percent—these rankings are based on how well the teams played during the regular season. But they aren't necessarily in the same order as they were in our pre-tournament power rankings because a significant amount of consideration was given to how they looked in their first two NCAA tournament games. Case in point: Both LSU and Tennessee dropped a few spots on account of their nail-biters, and there's a new ACC team at No. 1 after Duke's near-disaster against UCF. One important thing to note: Difficulty of path to the national championship has no bearing on this list. Rather, this could be considered a ranking of how we would reseed the remaining 16 teams based on perceived strength. (If it's title odds you're interested in, we published those earlier in the week.) We'll examine how teams played in the first two rounds, their biggest strengths and weaknesses, their MVPs and what they need to do to win it all, starting with the team that never should have been in the tournament in the first place.<doc-sep>
With Kentucky sneaking past a really good Houston team on Friday night and getting PJ Washington back in a big way, you would think the Wildcats would earn the respect they’ve been due since the start of the tournament now that their biggest question has been answered. Not so fast, though, says NCAA.com’s Andy Katz, as he has Kentucky ranked just #7 out of the remaining eight teams in the country. His list reads: 1. Gonzaga Bulldogs 2. Michigan State Spartans 3. Texas Tech Red Raiders 4. Duke Blue Devils 5. Auburn Tigers 6. Purdue Boilermakers 7. Kentucky Wildcats 8. Virginia Cavaliers SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell and ESPN’s Myron Medcalf’s Elite Eight lists were a little more favorable, as O’Donnell has Kentucky at #4, and Medcalf has them at #5. It’s hard to argue between most of these teams and their ranking because at the end of the day, they’re all here for a reason. With the way Kentucky has performed, though, this doesn’t make much sense. Rather than argue against the other 7, you can just have a look at Kentucky’s numbers through their first three games to justify why their ranking just can’t be right. Kentucky has held their opponents to 52.7 points per game, 36.4% from the field and 28.6% from three point range. On top of that, PJ Washington returned from injury and looked just like himself, scoring 16 points in a surprising, yet necessary, 26 minutes. Finally, Kentucky has made plays when they’ve needed too. Whether it be clutch defense or shot-making, the Wildcats have answered the bell down the stretch. It’s tough to split hairs with any of these teams based on their performances whether you mean all season or throughout this tournament, but Kentucky has shown everything they’ve needed too and still can't get any love. Thankfully, they still have opportunities to move forward to prove and earn it. To beat Auburn on Sunday, Kentucky will need to show all of this once again. If they can defend these new-look Tigers as well as they’ve defended in this tournament and keep pace with them on the scoreboard, the Wildcats have the chance to make it to Minneapolis.