The sweet 16 of March Madness starts on Thursday, with four games being played this evening and four more games being played Friday evening. In all, there are five Canadians left after 30 Canadians started the tournament according to Mike Koreen of Rogers Sportsnet. They are Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Andrew Nembhard of Aurora, Ontario, Arizona Wildcats swingman Bennedict Mathurin of Montreal, Quebec, Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey of Toronto, Ontario, Michigan Wolverines swingman Caleb Houstan of Mississauga, Ontario, and Providence Friars guard Matteus Case of Pickering, Ontario.
Nembhard is averaging 12.0 points per game, 5.8 assists per game, and 3.3 rebounds per game this season. In the first round of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, he had nine points, 11 assists and six rebounds in a 93-72 Gonzaga win over Georgia State. Then in the second round of the tournament, he had 23 points, five assists and one rebound in a 82-78 win over Memphis. In the sweet 16, Gonzaga faces Arkansas at 5 p.m. MT from San Francisco on Thursday.
Mathurin is averaging 17.8 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 2.5 assists per game. In round one of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Mathurin had 18 points and five rebounds in a 87-70 win over Wright State, and then in the second round of the tournament, he had 30 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals in an 85-80 overtime win over Texas Christian University. In the sweet 16, Arizona faces Houston at 8 p.m. MT from the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Thursday.
Edey is averaging 14.5 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game, and 1.2 assists per game. In round one of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Edey had 16 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and one assist in a 78-56 win over Yale, and then in round two, had 11 points and 10 rebounds in an 81-71 win over Texas. In the sweet 16 on Friday, Purdue faces St. Peter’s at 5 p.m. MT from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Houstan is averaging 10.2 points per game, 4.0 rebounds per game, and 1.4 assists per game. In round one of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Houstan had 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in a 75-63 win over Colorado State. In round two, he had three rebounds in a 76-68 win over Tennessee. In the sweet 16, Michigan faces Villanova at 5:30 p.m. MT from the AT&T Center on Thursday.
Case is averaging only one point and half a rebound per game for Providence. They play Kansas in the sweet 16 on Friday.
