The NCAA Tournament\u2019s Final Four kicks off tonight, with Illinois taking on UConn and No. 1 seeds in Michigan and Arizona meeting up.<\/p>\n
There were once NBA Draft prospects by the dozens, but there\u2019s now only a handful littering the last four teams. Still, there will be plenty of takeaways for pundits and NBA decision-makers alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are three things to keep an eye on in tonight\u2019s action:<\/p>\n
The Talent in Michigan-Arizona<\/p>\n
While the early-bout is sure to offer fireworks, many believe the late game in No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 1 Arizona to be the one of the more talent-filled games of the entire season. The team\u2019s have just five losses combined on the season, and have grabbed for the No. 1 overall seed for much of the season.<\/p>\n
Michigan has largely been anchored by its seasoned NBA-level frontcourt in Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara, all of which are likely to be drafted in this year\u2019s first round. Arizona has largely been led by true freshman in Brayden Burries, Koa Peat and Ivan Kharchenkov, though Motiejus Krivas and Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley have been crucial as well.<\/p>\n
Tonight\u2019s game could have as many as seven NBA Draft picks, even more accepting of future drafts.<\/p>\n
Can Keaton Wagler Keep Doing the Impossible?<\/p>\n
Illinois\u2019 top player in Keaton Wagler has defied the odds this year, coming in as a relative unknown and cementing top-10 draft stock, all while leading his team to the Final Four in the process.<\/p>\n
Despite being a true freshman, he\u2019s scored in double figures in all four tournament games, thriving in three of the four. Against Iowa in the Elite Eight, he poured on 25 points on 47% shooting, with three assists and a steal.<\/p>\n
Even if Illinois lost tonight, Wagler\u2019s cemented one of the best four-star seasons we\u2019ve ever seen. But a win, and a good individual outing, would continue to hammer home how special his season has been.<\/p>\n
Aday Mara vs. Motiejus Krivas<\/p>\n
While Michigan vs. Arizona will be talent-laden in general, its center battle is especially notable in Aday Mara vs. Motiejus Krivas.<\/p>\n
The two have seen eerily similar paths toward being potential 2026 draft picks, contributing across their first two seasons before breaking out in Year 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mara stands at 7-foot-3, averaging 11.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. Krivas stands at 7-foot-2, averaging 10.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. Mara has flashier on-ball ability with passing, though Krivas\u2019 movement across the board is generally better.<\/p>\n
How they fare against one another in limited time won\u2019t only affect the outcome of the game, but could change NBA decision-maker\u2019s minds as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NCAA Tournament\u2019s Final Four kicks off tonight, with Illinois taking on UConn and No. 1 seeds in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":698225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,6,12],"class_list":{"0":"post-698224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-draft","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-nba-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116347841532135329","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}