Minnesotan to watch
The 68-team field is short on Minnesotans, unlike last year when the tournament featured 10 players from our state. This year, let's focus on just one: the best player on any bench in the Big East.
J.P. Macura (Lakeville North), 6-5 sophomore guard, Xavier
Macura matured from a valuable freshman to one of the MVPs of the No. 2-seeded Musketeers as a sophomore. Big East coaches recently voted him as their Sixth Man of the Year. Macura averaged 9.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists in the Musketeers' record-setting season (27-5, 14-4 Big East). On Feb. 24, he scored 19 points and added three steals in an upset of then-No. 1 Villanova. Macura averaged 11.3 points on 48.0 percent shooting over Xavier's past 13 games.
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