Kyle GuyKevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Kyle Guy, Virginia
Tournament Stats: 11.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.3 APG, 21.1% 3PT
The first 3.5 games of the tournament were a nightmare for Guy. Through 44 field-goal attempts, he had just 26 points. He was 3-of-29 from three-point range, and he rolled his ankle near the end of the first half of the Elite Eight game against Purdue. Out of nowhere, though, he drained five threes and scored 21 points between the second half and overtime.
Guy entered the Big Dance shooting 46.3 percent from three-point range and had games in the first half of March in which he shot 7-of-9 and 8-of-10 from downtown. It was a brutal start, but better late than never. If he can shoot in Minneapolis like he did during the regular season, Virginia should win it all.
Ty Jerome, Virginia
Tournament Stats: 15.5 PPG, 5.5 APG, 4.0 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 40.7% 3PT
Jerome is one of those combo guards who is so good that we take him for granted until he has a rare off night and then wonder what went wrong. There’s nothing flashy about his game, but he delivers with high-efficiency offense and great perimeter defense. Even though Guy and Kihei Clark are both more than capable of running the offense, Jerome has played all but four minutes of this tournament. That’s how important he is to this cause.
Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech
Tournament Stats: 21.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 4.5 APG, 2.3 SPG, 1.3 BPG
Culver had an off night in the Elite Eight win over Gonzaga, but he still racked up 19 points, five rebounds and three steals. That’s what makes him so valuable. He’s not the best shooter by any means, but Culver is a scorer who stuffs the stat sheet with rebounds, assists and steals, too. So on nights when he is hitting three-pointers, he’s deadlier than a cobra.
Jared Harper, Auburn
Tournament Stats: 17.5 PPG, 6.5 APG, 30.8% 3PT
For as great as Auburn has been from three-point range, Harper has struggled to find his stroke lately. He hit four treys in the first game and is just 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) since then. That hasn’t slowed him down, though, nor has it stopped him from hitting 17 consecutive free throws. Harper was all over the box score in the win over Kentucky, including recording his first two blocked shots of the season. He is at the heart of everything this team does.
Cassius Winston, Michigan State
Tournament Stats: 19.0 PPG, 7.8 APG, 1.5 SPG, 40.0% 3PT
Just like Virginia’s Ty Jerome, there’s next to no sizzle in Winston’s game, but he’s one of the most valuable players on any roster. He has ranked second in the country in assist rate in all three of his seasons at Michigan State, and he is a career 43 percent three-point shooter and 84 percent free-throw shooter. Tough to say if he’ll ever get much of a shot at the NBA, but he is going to be destroying guys in pickup basketball for the next several decades.
Xavier Tillman, Michigan State
Tournament Stats: 15.3 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.8 BPG, 1.5 APG, 1.0 SPG
Tillman wasn’t even a starter until late February, let alone a star. However, the sophomore power forward has become a gigantic asset for the Spartans. He’s an excellent rebounder and the main reason Michigan State’s interior defense is so difficult to score against. Even though Zion Williamson racked up 24 points and 14 rebounds, there’s no question that Tillman was instrumental in keeping him from getting at least a dozen more of each. The infamous shoe was the only person, place or thing to do a better job of slowing down Williamson than Tillman did.
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