Top 3 March Madness Performances By Current Sacramento Kings

#2. Buddy Hield – March 20th, 2016: 2nd Round vs. VCU

36 points, 7 rebounds, 1 turnover on 55 percent shooting (6 for 14 from three)

Buddy Hield was on quite a tear in March of 2016. The senior from Oklahoma was putting the final touches on a four-year collegiate career that saw him become one of the most prolific shooters in history, and enjoyed some of his best performances when it mattered most.

There are actually a few games from that year’s March Madness that could be included on our list, and there were games during that tournament when Hield scored more points than he did against VCU. He scored 39 points against Iowa State in the conference tournament and dropped 37 against Oregon in a huge game to advance to the Final Four.

We chose the second round game against VCU to highlight instead because of Hield’s efficiency and mistake-free basketball. He actually shot better in the Oregon game, but committed six turnovers though they didn’t end up costing Oklahoma the game. When checking Buddy Hield box scores for the last three years, I’ve always gone straight to two numbers: three-point percentage and turnovers. You can’t always tell the story with a box score, but sometimes you can with Buddy Hield.

Hield enjoyed three games of 35+ points that month and really put his name on the map as far as NBA scouting was concerned. Oklahoma would go on to play Villanova in the Final Four, but came up short against the eventual-champion Wildcats behind Hield’s 1 for 8 performance from deep that saw him score just nine points.