March Madness Opening Weekend Prospect Review - Marcus Sasser

How did the Houston guard look in the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament?

While the path to an NBA career is getting harder and harder for 6-foot-2 guards, Houston’s Marcus Sasser is definitely doing his best to make the case for him being one that can do it.

The Dallas, TX native has consistently gotten better year after year in his four years at Houston.

For Sasser, the shooting is the skill that will stand out the most. Last season he shot well over 40% from behind the 3-point line on over 8.5 attempts per game and though those numbers slipped a bit this season, his free throw percentage increased by 10%. There is plenty of sample size from Sasser for NBA teams to truly believe in the jumper and his ability to knock down shots at the next level.

Where the Cougar guard has also made strides is with his playmaking by being able to increase his assists numbers each of his four seasons while keeping his turnovers low, less than two per game this season.

Sasser, while not providing any versatility at his size, is also able to make his presence felt on the defensive end of the court. Via Cerebro Sports, he has a defensive stats impact (DSI) of 85 this season which makes it back to back years with a DSI in the mid-80s.

Unfortunately, a March 11th groin injury in the AAC semifinals flared back up and we only got Sasser for 14 minutes in their Thursday night matchup vs Northern Kentucky.

Game 1 vs Northern Kentucky

Even in the small minutes we got from Sasser on Thursday we were still able to see the impact he has on the court. His sheer intensity and physicality were evident on both ends of the court.

He got some clean looks from behind the 3-point line but the jumper was definitely off and you can’t help but wonder if that groin was bothering him from the open tip.

He did also create some good looks for his teammates that simply were not converted.

Sasser finished the game with five points on 2-of-5 from the field and 1-of-3 from the 3-point line. He did bring down two rebounds but again, no assists as teammates were not able to convert those looks.

Game 2 vs Auburn

While it does not sound like Sasser was perfectly healthy in this game, the groin did not keep him from making his impact felt.

The only thing that kept him from playing more minutes than the 31 he logged was some foul trouble that also plagued backcourt mate, Jamal Shead.

While his teammates added plenty of big time performances in their own right, Tramon Mark with 26 points and Jarace Walker with 10 rebounds and six blocks, Sasser was the heart and soul of his team.

After that rough night on Thursday he exploded with a 22 point performance on just 14 attempts and 5-of-9 from behind the 3-point line.

With almost a week off before their sweet sixteen game Sasser should be able to heal that groin up even more and be as close to 100% as possible to try and lead his team to a national title and continue to raise his NBA draft stock.

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