The 2013 NCAA Tournament continues on Friday night in the Midwest Region, where the Duke Blue Devils and the Michigan State Spartans are going to renew what has become a very important rivalry over the course of the last few years. Head Coach Tom Izzo’s Spartans are the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region, and they are lined in what basically is a pick ’em game against the No. 2 seeded Blue Devils, who have to still feel slighted over the fact that they aren’t on the top line in the dance.

March Madness: Michigan State Spartans vs. Duke Blue Devils
Michigan State vs. Duke Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
Michigan State vs. Duke Date/Time: Friday, March 29th, 9:45 p.m. ET
March Madness Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: Ryan Kelly needs to make his first legitimate appearance of the tourney
It’s clear that when the Blue Devils are at their best, Ryan Kelly is at his best as well. This is a man that is going to be a matchup nightmare for the significantly less athletic Spartans to try to handle if he gets going. Kelly is every bit of 6’11”, and he can step back from the outside and knock down some big time shots. However, Kelly has gone four straight games now, scoring a total of just 25 points in those outings, and that’s just not good enough at this level for a team that is expected to challenge for a spot in the Final Four this week. If Kelly is hitting his shots, either F Adreian Payne or F Derrick Nix is going to have to step out and try to guard him on the perimeter, and if that turns out to be the case, the battle on the glass is going to be won by the Dookies in easy form. Kelly really didn’t have to exist against Albany or Creighton because those teams weren’t going to challenge F Mason Plumlee on the glass anyway, but if Kelly can’t step back and draw a defender away from the basket, Plumlee could have some problems.

Michigan State vs. Duke Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
#3 Michigan State Spartans +2
#2 Duke Blue Devils -2
Over/Under 134.5
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Key #2: Keith Appling’s shoulder had better be good to go
The Spartans have put together two very impressive games here in the dance, but there is a big, big difference between playing against Memphis, playing against Valpo, and playing against Duke. The Blue Devils have legitimate NBA-type talent from one to five in this lineup, and there is no doubt that they are going to be in it for the full 40 minutes. That means that the Spartans have to be playing at full strength as well, and that might be a tad difficult. Appling hurt his shoulder in the win over Memphis on Saturday, and he ended that game with just two points, two assists, and a rebound. Granted, others like G Gary Harris were able to pick up the slack at that point for Sparty, but we just don’t know if there is enough talent here on this team to come up with a big time effort against the Blue Devils to carry the load for a player that might be carrying an injury.

Key #3: The Dookies have to be ready to get down and dirty
The one thing about the ACC this season is that there really weren’t a lot of teams that willingly played the knock down, drag out games that the NCAA Tournament is known for. This is where we are going to learn a heck of a lot about Duke and its prospects of not just winning this game, but its chances of winning the whole enchilada as well. When you really look at the games that the Blue Devils played this year, they really weren’t forced into a lot of half-court type of games. The Virginia Cavaliers did it to the Dookies in Charlottesville, and the hosts won that game 73-68. Duke does have a win over the Ohio State Buckeyes to its credit as well from back in November of the same caliber, but that game was a long time ago, and obviously, OSU is a heck of a lot better now than it was before. However, with so many great teams that could play some big time defense left in the dance, the Blue Devils are going to need to prove that they can play this gritty type of game if they are going to win and be successful.

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Either a team that came out of the First Four or one that has made a magical run from the Missouri Valley Conference will find their way to the Elite Eight on Thursday night, as we make our March Madness predictions for the clash between the La Salle Explorers and the Wichita State Shockers.

March Madness: La Salle Explorers vs. Wichita State Shockers
La Salle vs. Wichita State Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
La Salle vs. Wichita State Date/Time: Thursday, March 28th, 10:17 p.m. ET
March Madness Television Coverage: TBS

Key #1: Wichita State has to continue to be a strong three-point shooting team
Remember when the VCU Rams ran from the First Four to the Final Four two seasons ago? It’s not out of the question that La Salle could do the same this year, but the run seems very similar for Wichita State as well. That VCU team was a relatively average three-point shooting team that caught fire in the dance and started literally knocking down everything left and right. Now, the Shockers are doing the exact same thing. Wichita State hit 50% of its threes on Saturday when it knocked off the top seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs, and that’s a far cry from the 33.7 percent from three-point land that the team has hit for the season. This time of year, it’s all about the 3-ball, and knocking them down at that rate is clearly going to be one of the keys to get this team into the Elite Eight, and perhaps even the Final Four beyond. If the threes aren’t falling at that type of clip though, the Shockers are going to be in a heck of a lot of trouble against a very athletic team.

La Salle vs. Wichita State Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
#13 La Salle Explorers +4
#9 Wichita State Shockers -4
Over/Under 135.5
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Key #2: Someone needs to figure out how to stop Ramon Galloway
Had we looked at the keys to the game for La Salle last round against the Ole Miss Rebels, we would have said that someone needed to slow down G Marshall Henderson. Instead of doing that though, Galloway just stayed shot for shot with him for the full 40 minutes. Galloway really looks a heck of a lot like Henderson did for the Rebels for all of those games, as now, the La Salle leader is averaging 21.3 points per game in the dance in this, his senior season. With nearly 1,600 points in his collegiate career, there is no doubt that Galloway is a man that knows how to take over a game, and after hitting six threes on Sunday against Ole Miss, he can really flex his muscles as one of the best players in the tournament in this one against Wichita State.

Key #3: Wichita State can’t get killed on the offensive glass
Rebounding hasn’t been an issue for the Shockers all year long, but all of a sudden against Gonzaga on Saturday, all of that changed. Wichita State gave up a whopping 20 offensive rebounds to the Zags, the most that it had allowed in a game all season long. That isn’t going to cut it, needless to say. La Salle is actually a terrible rebounding team, as it is one of the few teams in the tourney that has allowed more rebounds per game this season (31.5) than it has picked up (31.3). The Explorers don’t have F Elias Harris or F Kelly Olynyk or any of the other bigs that Gonzaga brings to the table, so this should be a much different type of challenge for a team that is used to physically overwhelming its foes. If the Shockers can’t win the battle on the glass, particularly the battle on the defensive side of the court, they’ll be in a ton of trouble. Possessions absolutely have to be limited to one and done as much as possible for Wichita State to knock off La Salle.

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Our 2013 NCAA Tournament predictions continue on Thursday, March 28th with the Sweet 16. Join us as the #3 Marquette Golden Eagles and the #2 Miami Hurricanes go to war in what should be a remarkable opening game of the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament.

March Madness: Marquette Golden Eagles vs. Miami Hurricanes
Marquette vs. Miami Location: Verizon Center, Washington DC
Marquette vs. Miami Date/Time: Thursday, March 28th, 7:15 p.m. (ET)
2013 March Madness On TV: CBS

Key #1: Someone aside from Vander Blue has to step up for the Golden Eagles
Marquette seems like it is a team that has nine lives right now. The squad was down and out in the first round of the dance against the Davidson Wildcats, and it was F Vander Blue that hit the shot that ended up keeping the team alive for another day. Blue came up in a big time way again in the third round for the Golden Eagles against the Butler Bulldogs, scoring 29 points against a tremendously stingy defense. However, against Miami, someone aside from just Blue is going to have to bring something to the table to advance. The rest of the team is only averaging 14.5 field goals per game here in the NCAA Tournament, and the club is shooting just .354 from the field. That really isn’t going to come closing to cutting it. This really isn’t a team that hits all that many shots from the outside either. Blue has five three-point shots made in two games. The rest of the Golden Eagles have just four for the tournament. Whether it be F Davante Gardner, F Jamil Wilson, G Junior Cadougan, or any of the other Golden Eagles, someone is going to have to step up and help out Blue if they are going to beat the best team that they have faced in this tournament to date.

Sweet 16 Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
#3 Marquette Golden Eagles +5.5
#2 Miami Hurricanes +5.5
Over/Under 127
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Key #2: The Hurricanes need to take advantage of a smaller Marquette front line
Miami has a huge edge against most teams in terms of their size and their depth on the inside. The combination of C Reggie Johnson, F Julian Gamble, and F Kenny Kadji should be able to rip down at least 20 boards virtually every single night, especially against teams that are just far too small to keep up with them. Update: Johnson is out of the lineup for the Hurricanes with a knee injury. However, the Illinois Fighting Illini, a team that doesn’t have a single rebounder averaging five boards per game this year, actually outrebounded the Hurricanes 36-33 on Sunday in the Round of 32, and that isn’t going to cut it in this one. Miami would have probably been beaten in that game if not for the fact that G Brandon Paul and G DJ Richardson combined to shoot just 3-of-19 from beyond the arc. The key is going to have to be on the glass here against Marquette. These Golden Eagles are undersized, and there isn’t a big time rebounder on the team. There is no excuse whatsoever for the Canes to not win the battle on the boards, and if they don’t, they could be knocked out of this tournament.

Key #3: Buzz Williams has to do a good job managing the game
Head Coach Buzz Williams is truly a tremendously underrated coach. This is a man that took a Marquette team that was picked to finish in the middle of the Big East this season and made it the regular season co-champs and ultimately a No. 3 seed in the dance. We know that Williams pushed a lot of the right buttons down the stretch in both of the first two games of this tournament, and we know that he is going to have to push the right ones again in this one. Miami has the superior athleticism, and as a result, it is going to make its runs. The question is going to be how Marquette handles those runs. Timeout usage is going to be key for the full 40 minutes, as will substitution patterns. The Hurricanes can handle any style that Marquette will throw their way, and Williams is going to have to mix it up, find the right combination of guys, and ultimately take advantage of whatever opportunities the Hurricanes give him if there is any hope of getting into the Elite Eight.

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