Sweet 16 preview: A quick look at Friday’s 4 games

The Sweet 16 continues Friday night with four games, one No. 1 seed, a contest with two of the bluest blue bloods in the sport and a game featuring a rare seeding matchup.

The blue-blood game features No. 4 UCLA against No. 8 North Carolina in the East Region nightcap. The schools have a combined 17 NCAA titles and 39 Final Four appearances, but this will be just the third meeting in the NCAA tourney. The first came in the 1968 title game, when the Bruins rolled 78-55. The other came in the second round in 1989, with the Tar Heels prevailing.

And the rare seeding matchup comes in the nightcap of the Midwest Region, with No. 10 Miami playing No. 11 Iowa State. It’s just the fourth 10-11 matchup since the field expanded to 64 in 1985. The others: No. 11 VCU beat No. 10 Florida State on the way to the Final Four in 2011, No. 11 Dayton beat No. 10 Stanford in 2014 and No. 10 Syracuse downed No. 11 Gonzaga in 2016 on its way to the Final Four.

Here’s a quick look at each Sweet 16 game Friday, with two in the East Region and two in the Midwest.

East Region

No. 3 Purdue (29-7) vs. No. 15 Saint Peter’s (21-11)

Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
Time/TV: 7:09 p.m., CBS (livestream of the game will be here)
Announcers: Ian Eagle play-by-play, Jim Spanarkel analyst
How they got to the Sweet 16: Purdue def. No. 14 Yale 78-56, def. No. 6 Texas 81-71; Saint Peter’s def. No. 2 Kentucky 85-79 (OT), def. No. 7 Murray State 70-60.
The line: Purdue by 12.5
The buzz: Saint Peter’s finished 16-11 and in second place in the MAAC in the regular season. At some point, this Cinderella story has to end; Purdue has the size and star player (Jaden Ivey) to close the book. Saint Peter’s K.C. Ndefo is a legit low-post defensive presence who averages almost three blocks per games. But he’s also 6 feet 7 and 190 pounds; Purdue features 7-4, 295-pound Zach Edey and 6-10, 255-pound Trevion Williams. And while the Peacocks play excellent team defense, especially on the perimeter, who can hang with Ivey? To pull a third consecutive upset, the Peacocks need a bunch of 3s from Daryl Banks III and budding cult hero Doug Edert and for both Purdue big men to play poorly. Saint Peter’s is the third No. 15 to advance to the Sweet 16. One (Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 against Florida) lost by 12; the other (Oral Roberts last season against Arkansas) lost by two.

No. 4 UCLA (27-7) vs. No. 8 North Carolina (26-9)

Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
Time/TV: 9:39 p.m., CBS (livestream of the game will be here)
Announcers: Ian Eagle play-by-play, Jim Spanarkel analyst
How they got to the Sweet 16: UCLA def. No. 13 Akron 57-53, def. No. 5 Saint Mary’s 72-56; UNC def. No. 9 Marquette 95-63, def. No. 1 Baylor 93-86 (OT).
The line: UCLA by 2.5
The buzz: The health of UCLA F Jaime Jaquez has become a major storyline; he is day-to-day with an ankle injury he reaggravated in the victory over Saint Mary’s. Jaquez is a good defender who also has been the Bruins’ leading scorer (16.3 points) over the past 10 games. Regardless, the Bruins need a return to offensive form for Johnny Juzang, who has struggled since returning from a late-February injury. North Carolina’s defensive intensity waxes and wanes, and UCLA figures to be the more physical team. But as the Tar Heels showed in the second half of their win at Duke in Mike Krzyzewski’s Cameron Indoor Stadium finale, in their first-round blowout of Marquette and for much of the game against Baylor, they are a dangerous offensive team — capable of doing damage on the perimeter with R.J. Davis, Caleb Love and Brady Manek and in the paint with Armando Bacot.

Midwest Region

No. 1 Kansas (30-6) vs. No. 4 Providence (27-5)

Location: United Center, Chicago
Time/TV: 7:29 p.m., TBS (livestream of the game will be here)
Announcers: Kevin Harlan play-by-play, Dan Bonner and Reggie Miller analysts
How they got to the Sweet 16: No. 1 Kansas def. No. 16 Texas Southern 83-56, def. No. 9 Creighton 79-72; No. 4 Providence def. No. 13 South Dakota State 66-57, def. No. 12 Richmond 79-51.
The line: Kansas by 7.5
The buzz: Providence has done excellent defensive work in the tournament, but the Jayhawks are at a different level than the two teams the Friars have played. Still, Providence is dangerous because it can slop up a game defensively and has three guys who can pop 3-pointers (the problem is that there are five Friars who fancy themselves 3-point marksmen). But the key Friar in this one is 6-10, 260-pound C Nate Watson. He’s not as good a rebounder as someone his size should be, but he needs to produce offensively if the Friars are to pull the upset. He averages a team-high 13.5 points, but he was a non-entity offensively (eight or fewer points) in four of the Friars’ five losses. Kansas does good work on the offensive boards and the Friars allowed an average of 11 offensive rebounds per game in their five losses. Providence can’t run with the more-athletic Jayhawks, so controlling the tempo is important.

No. 10 Miami (25-10) vs. No. 11 Iowa State (22-12)

Location: United Center, Chicago
Time/TV: 9:59 p.m., TBS (livestream of the game will be here)
Announcers: Kevin Harlan play-by-play, Dan Bonner and Reggie Miller analysts
How they got to the Sweet 16: Miami def. No. 7 USC 68-66, def. No. 2 Auburn 79-61; Iowa State def. No. 6 LSU 59-54, def. No. 3 Wisconsin 54-49.
The line: Miami by 2.5
The buzz: New Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger remade his team via the transfer portal, giving hope to every Power 6 school that has made or will make a coaching change this cycle. Miami wins with offense and its defense can be lax; Iowa State wins with defense and its offense can struggle. The Hurricanes’ guards can hit 3-pointers but also get into the lane; the Cyclones’ defense can be stifling on the perimeter. One key aspect: The Cyclones struggle with turnovers, and if they let Miami get its transition offense cranked up, they’re in trouble.