Final Four 2017: Full Breakdown, Predictions and Stars to Watch – Bleacher Report

    Nigel Williams-Goss had an outstanding game against Xavier.

    Nigel Williams-Goss had an outstanding game against Xavier.Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

    Tyler Dorsey, Oregon
    Tournament Stats: 24.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.5 SPG, 65.4% 3PT

    Players who score with both high volume and high efficiency typically average around 1.5 points per field-goal attempt. Doug McDermott’s senior-year ratio was 1.49. Buddy Hield’s was 1.54. But in the tournament, Tyler Dorsey is sitting at 1.92 without even doing much damage from the free-throw line. It seems like he makes every shot he takes.

     

    Dillon Brooks, Oregon
    Tournament Stats: 16.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.3 APG, 39.1% 3PT

    Dillon Brooks has probably only been the third-best player in the tournament for the Ducks, but the preseason All-American is still making quite the impact. He has scored at least 10 points in every game since the beginning of February while pitching in with a respectable number of rebounds and assists. He’s a jack of all trades who has been consistently filling up the box score for the past two years.

     

    Jordan Bell, Oregon
    Tournament Stats: 12.5 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 2.8 BPG, 1.8 APG

    Jordan Bell stepped into the national spotlight with his eight blocks in Saturday night’s win over Kansas, but he has been a star in the paint for Oregon all season long. The big junior isn’t one of the go-to scorers for the Ducks, but he has recorded at least 12 rebounds in each tournament game. Without his presence in the paint, there’s no chance this team is still standing.

     

    Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
    Tournament Stats: 15.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.0 SPG

    Nigel Williams-Goss has been hit-or-miss through the first four rounds. He was great against Northwestern and Xavier, but he struggled against South Dakota State and West Virginia. If the good version of Williams-Goss shows up for the final weekend, the Zags have a legitimate chance to win it all. With Lonzo Ball, Caleb Swanigan, Josh Hart and Frank Mason all gone, NWG is the closest thing to a National Player of the Year front-runner left in the dance.

     

    Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina
    Tournament Stats: 25.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 2.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 42.3% 3PT

    Dorsey has been incredible, but if you’re picking a Most Outstanding Player based on what we’ve seen through four rounds, it has to go to Sindarius Thornwell. Everyone in the building knows that he’s the guy South Carolina wants to get the ball to, and yet he has scored at least 24 points in every game while filling up the rest of the box score. We’re always on the lookout for the next Kemba Walker, and Thornwell is carrying his tournament team better than anyone else has since 2011.

     

    Justin Jackson, North Carolina
    Tournament Stats: 19.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.3 APG, 40.7% 3PT

    The 2017 ACC Player of the Year brought his A game into the month of March, too. Justin Jackson has at least 15 points, five rebounds and three assists in each NCAA tournament game and was a key factor in shutting down the three-point attacks of Butler and Kentucky. Prior to Kentucky draining three straight triples in the final minute, those teams were a combined 12-of-44 (27.3 percent) from beyond the arc, struggling to find open looks against this 6’8″ wing.

     

    Kennedy Meeks, North Carolina
    Tournament Stats: 10.3 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 1.0 SPG

    North Carolina leads the nation in offensive rebound percentage, and Kennedy Meeks is the biggest reason why. The Tar Heels don’t run much offense through their senior center, but it’s probably because they know he’s going to get a fair number of points just by living on the glass. He already has 15 offensive rebounds in the tournament, 12 of which came in the nail-biters against Arkansas and Kentucky.

Final Four 2017: Full Breakdown, Predictions and Stars to Watch – Bleacher Report