The Virginia Cavaliers relied on some timely three-pointers to eliminate their 16th seeded opponent a couple nights ago. Now the Memphis Tigers are on tap and a slow start could mean their own elimination.
The Cavaliers haven’t been to the Sweet 16 since 1995. Unlike last season, now they have not one, but two perimeter players capable of putting the team on their shoulders and carrying the bulk of the scoring load at any given time. That makes the Cavaliers an extremely dangerous team, one that overcame a slow start on Friday to get hot and easily win.
Virginia loves to play at a slow pace and push their opponents to use up a lot of the shot clock and then be forced to rush their shots. The Memphis Tigers are the exact opposite; they love to push the pace and prefer higher scoring games having averaged 77.4 points per game during the season. The pace will be the key to whoever is on top of the final score.
Three-pointers have been a big part of Virginia’s success as well with freshman point guard London Perrantes hitting 21 of 31 over the past nine games. When Coastal Carolina kept Friday’s game close, it was the three-point shot by Joe Harris that let Virginia pull out ahead.
Memphis would love nothing more than to knock off a number one seed to advance to the Sweet 16. They beat defending champion Louisville not once during the regular season, but twice. There may be seven seed points between Memphis and Virginia, but this game has all the makings of a classic that goes down to the last possession.
The Virginia Memphis game starts tonight at 8:40pm EST with tip-off. The game will be televised on the cable TV channel TNT so subscribers can watch it there in HD.
Those of you who want to watch Virginia vs Memphis live streaming on the Internet via a phone, tablet or other device can do so through the great website the NCAA has set up. Simply go here to visit the March Madness Live site where you can watch the Cavaliers Tigers game online free live streaming either via the four-hour trial period or by logging in with your cable or satellite provider username and password.
