Kansas begins its 31st NCAA tournament in a row against the Big Sky tournament champion Eastern Washington Eagles. Sitting at 110 in KenPom, the second-lowest rated of the 14-seeds, the Eagles went 16-7 this year and 12-3 in the Big Sky regular season.
First, let’s take a look at some of the good and bad things (from a KU perspective) the Eagles do offensively:
The first thing that jumped out at me when looking at them is their pace. Eastern Washington ranked 28th nationally and first in the Big Sky in tempo this year. Furthermore, their offensive possessions take on average just under 16 seconds, and via Hoop-math, about a fourth of their field goal attempts come in transition.