MARCH STATNESS: 64 Stats On 64 NCAA Men's Basketball March Madness Teams (Part 3/4: East Region)
Grant Halverson. Getty Images.Welcome back. Day 3 of March Madness stats you won't find anywhere else. One stat per team. Region by region.
If this is your first time jumping in, yesterday we learned SIUE has the exact same free throw shooting percentage as SIU (not E) at 67.55% and Tennessee played in four tournament games last season, three the year before that, two the year before that, one the year before that, and zero the year before that. Things like that. And today we head out East.
#1 Duke's 107 tournament wins trails just UNC's 110
This doesn't count last night's play in game because I think technically you have to win that to get "in". But after such a beatdown it seems everyone across America can agree UNC got robbed on only being an 11 seed. Even so, Duke has a real shot at taking the overall wins crown this season if UNC doesn't win a few real games.
#16 American is one of just two teams (Boston College) with three game-winning or tying shots in the final 3 seconds of a game
That's all I need to know to pick them over Mount Saint Mary's later today. Just don't depend on Lincoln Ball to be the guy to make the game winning shot. He's 0-2 in dunk attempts this season. Not great. As for their matchup with Duke, I'll go ahead an guarantee American doesn't miss a game winning/tying shot in the final three seconds either. I'm that confident in them.
#8 Mississippi State (21-12) is one of the few teams with a palindrome record
Yeah - you read that right. I found absolutely nothing of interest or entertainment value on Mississippi State. So this is what we're going with. Literally the last team I found a stat on and it shows. This team is really good at not being really good or really bad at anything. But hey - their record is a palindrome. Cool. Illinois and Kansas also join this club with the same records. That's a combined 63-36 record which, of course, is another palindrome.
Let's just move on.
#9 Baylor's Langston Love is 8/8 in clutch free throws
All you need is Love in the final five minutes of a five-point game. But don't depend too much on his teammates. They're only 74.3% clutch free throw shooting as a team. 159th in the nation.
#5 Oregon is 3/3 in overtime games
Only Drake has played more overtimes with a perfect record this season with 5. And they'll be covered in the final edition so that's a free Drake stat to groom you for what's to come.
#12 Liberty is a big "bet the live over at half-time" team
Liberty allows just 27.2 points in the first half this season while giving up 36.8 in the second half. One of, if not, the biggest differences in the nation.
#4 Arizona is the only team in the tournament with a Champion
Hang on to your britches fact-checkers. But last I checked Tennessee Chattanooga wasn't in the tournament, so Frank Champion will not be a champion. At least not this year. But as a Champion, Arizona's Luke Champion will be able to compete to be a champion. Even though he already is a Champion.
#13 Akron is 0-6 in tournament history
What's worse? 0-6 or 2-19 (Utah State from yesterday's blog)? I think I'd rather be 0-6. At least there's still some hope left in there. And they've made three tournaments now since 2022 which is pretty crazy for a random team like Akron. Syracuse has made ZERO tournaments since 2022. Whatever happened to that school?
#6 BYU are bad boys on the road
BYU has the second largest disparity in average fouls per game on the road vs at home. 13 per game at home and 19.8 on the road. Like any other BYU student, they can only sin when they visit other colleges. Get ready world. The Bad BYUs are coming.
#11 VCU Beat DII Elizabeth City State 103-58
That's all I have on VCU.
#3 Wisconsin's star John Tonje recorded the second-worst shooting percentage in the nation for 2025 in their last game
1/15 which I believe included a meaningless last second 3/4ths the court heave. But here's the thing you might miss about Wisconsin. They are the best free throw shooting team in the nation at 82% which is the real stat of note here. UC-Irvine and Gonzaga are next two percent lower. That will absolutely give them the edge when it comes to closing out close games. Unless they play American.
It's too bad they didn't paired up with Wofford who is 342nd in the nation at the line. Instead they get the mighty Grizzlies from Montana. Let's see what they're all about.
#14 Montana is 3-0 in neutral site games
Watch out Wisconsin. As you might know, tournament games are played on neutral site courts. And as you might also know, 3-0 is perfect. Lots to be excited about here Montana fans. But there is just a little bit of fine print.
- Best win was vs Idaho (ranked 268)
- Second best win was vs Idaho (ranked 268)
- Third best win was vs Idaho (ranked 268)
- Lost tournament game 81-34 back in 2013
- Has worst NCAA Tournament point differential out of all 307 schools that played in it (-226)
#7 Saint Mary's Cade Bennett last made a shot on January 2nd
OK - so he's not a starter, so let's give him a break here. Plays just a few minutes a game and is 3 for 13 from the field this season. Think a rich man's Andrew Hurley. That's what we got here. Not making a shot since January 2nd is like some New Year's resolution that went as New Year's resolutions go. Started strong - we can at least say that.
#10 Vanderbilt has won just 7 of their last 18 games
Vanderbilt's 13-1 start didn't seem real. Because it appears it wasn't. The mean regression was what everything was waiting to have happen to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but never did. But Vandy is limping into this tournament as a 10-seed. Might be ample opportunity at the end of this game for Cade Bennett to make a shot or two.
#2 Alabama is scoring five more points per game than the second highest scoring team in the nation
91.1 points per game. Insane production on the offensive end for Nate Oats, his squad, and his purposefully outdated suits. FYI -Zaga is runner-up at 86 per game. One other tidbit is they give up nine more points in the second half than the first, so perhaps another live half-time over candidate. Just 36.4 in first half vs 45.6 in the second. Garbage time points, for sure. But as Andy Samburg once said - STILL COUNTS!
#15 Robert Morris has eight tournament appearances and eight tournament games
That's 100% for those scoring at home. Well done, Robert Morris. The most efficient team in NCAA Tournament history (tied with Nebraska but we'll get to them tomorrow). Let's see if you can go 9/9.
One more region to go tomorrow before it all tips off. I got a pretty sick Drake stat. We need to talk about the teams Norfolk State beat. And we need to chat on the power conference team that never won a tournament game (kinda spoiled it already in this blog). And much more.
48 down. 16 left.
Catch up on the Midwest stats here: