The opening round matchup really comes down to the health of Rio and how hungry this IUSB team still is after one crazy conference tournament run. Playing in just 6 games will make it tougher for Rio to get a scout, but it’s probably as equally as tough on IUSB to get a great scout without knowing who is back healthy and ready to play for Rio. The game will ultimately come down to IUSB taking care of the basketball, and Rio’s ability to continue to force turnovers. 

IWU is a beast and no reason to think otherwise after that semifinal loss in the Crossroads League tournament. Not only have they had a week of adding some fuel to the fire to get motivated and refocused, but they also get to play their tournament game at home, in Luckey Arena. An arena where they had the Nations longest winning streak prior to that CL Semifinal game. The Wildcats have the best player in the country in Kyle Mangas and as good as he is, this IWU team is also deep and play really hard. They always seem to go on these bursts in the middle of the game where they maybe go on a 8-2 run, or 12-4 run. Most of the time they are already up 6-8 points and those runs blow the game open. Teams have been able to stick with them for a half, but they have proven that they are a second half team and make great 2nd half adjustments once they know what a team’s gameplan is.