Breakdown

Teams

* Favorites: No. 1 Kansas made a tournament-record 15 three-point baskets in the Big 12 tournament championship game against Texas. No. 2 Georgetown is trying to make a return appearance at the Final Four. No. 4 Vanderbilt is a good three-point shooting team that uses backdoor plays on offense. The Commodores also have Southeastern Conference player of the year Shan Foster, a senior.

* Cinderella search: No. 5 Clemson gave No. 1-ranked North Carolina all it could handle in three games, taking the Tar Heels to overtime twice. Tigers forward James Mays is an imposing inside presence and Trevor Booker has 62 blocks.

No. 9 Kent State has dynamo point guard Al Fisher, good passing in the post, and some shooters.

* No chance: No. 11 Kansas State is a two-man team with Michael Beasley and Bill Walker. It needs more than that.

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Games

* Must-see: No. 7 Gonzaga vs. No. 10 Davidson features a matchup of top guards in the Bulldogs’ Jeremy Pargo and the Wildcats’ Stephen Curry.

Davidson’s Curry is fifth in the nation in scoring with a 25.1 average. Pargo is a point guard who is a crafty scorer, averaging 11.9 points and 6.0 assists.

Vanderbilt has proved it can beat -- or lose to -- just about anybody, and No. 13 Siena is capable of an upset.

Fullerton playing in Omaha? How could the Titans not put up a good fight? Oh wait. Different sport. Well, if nothing else we’ll have a contrast in styles. Wisconsin is the plow horse, Fullerton the quarter horse.

* Must skip: If Beasley and Walker don’t both show up against USC, the Trojans could make short work of the Wildcats. Portland State and Maryland Baltimore County are at the mercy of way more talented Kansas and Georgetown.

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Players and numbers

With 7-2 Roy Hibbert and the guard play of Jonathan Wallace and freshman Austin Freeman, Georgetown is among the nation’s leaders in field-goal percentage defense and scoring defense.

Clemson senior Clifford Hammonds, winner of the first Skip Prosser Award, given in memory of the late Wake Forest coach to the top scholar-athlete in the Atlantic Coast Conference, is among only five players in conference history with at least 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals in his career.

With an average of 26.5 points, Kansas State’s Beasley is the top scorer in the tournament. But having a big scorer apparently doesn’t guarantee team success. Of the top 20 scorers in Division I, only four are in the tournament. The others: 5. Stephen Curry of Davidson at 25.1; 11. Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina at 23.1; 17. Eric Gordon of Indiana at 21.5.