Free March Madness Picks Today For First Round 2023: Arizona Wildcats vs Princeton Tigers 3/16/23

The No. 2 seed Arizona Wildcats (28-6, 17-6 Pac-12) face the No. 15 seed Princeton Tigers (21-8, 12-4 Ivy League) Thursday at Golden 1 Center in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Princeton topped the Yale Bulldogs 74-65 at L. Stockwell Jadwin Gymnasium on Sunday in the Ivy League Conference Tourney Championship, their fourth win in a row.

Tosan Evbuomwan was the key player with 21 points. Arizona won their third in a row in a close one in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, beating the UCLA Bruins 61-59.

Azuolas Tubelis had 19 points and 14 rebounds, carrying the team. Evbuomwan is averaging 15.0 points per game to lead the Tigers in scoring this season.

Evbuomwan also has dished 4.7 assists per game. Meanwhile, Caden Pierce is grabbing 7.1 rebounds. Tubelis’ 19.8 points per game have powered the Wildcats on offense. Tubelis also has posted 9.3 rebounds per game.

Kerr Kriisa has tallied 5.2 assists per game. With 82.7 points per game, the Wildcats are one of the most explosive offenses in the nation (4th).Princeton is 7-3 in the last 10 games with an average margin of +2.7 (76.5-73.8).

For the season, the Tigers are averaging 76.0 points per game, compared to 68.6 for opponents. Arizona has also a 7-3 record over the last 10, scoring 81.2 points per game on average while allowing 73.4 (+7.8 margin).

TIGERS HOT/COLD

(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Caden Pierce: 22.4 | 16.5 | +5.9
Blake Peters: 3.6 | 7.6 | -4.0
Points per game:
Caden Pierce: 11.6 | 8.2 | +3.4
Keeshawn Kellman: 4.8 | 8.0 | -3.2
Rebounds per game:
Caden Pierce: 9.4 | 7.1 | +2.3
Assists per game:
Matt Allocco: 1.0 | 2.0 | -1.0

WILDCATS HOT/COLD

(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Kylan Boswell: 12.6 | 7.8 | +4.8
Henri Veesaar: 0.4 | 3.7 | -3.3
Points per game:
Kerr Kriisa: 7.2 | 10.1 | -2.9
Assists per game:
Kerr Kriisa: 3.8 | 5.2 | -1.4