8B
GAME DAY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009
KU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
The pressure is gone. By getting to the Sweet Sixteen, Kansas has exceeded all expectations from the beginning of the season. The Jayhawks can play loose. That's what Bill Self has preached all week. Remember what happened last NCAA tournament when Kansas reached that point? The Jayhawks rushed out to a 40-12 lead against North Carolina in the Final Four en route to a resounding victory. The pressure for that team was to get past the Elite Eight. The pressure for this team was to get to the second weekend. Now, let's see if the results are similar.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Junior guard Sherron Collins
Sure, this selection is about as surprising as a small bag of pretzels on an airplane. But where Collina could be.
Collin could be most valuable against Michigan State might be unexpected: defense. Collins has to be able to guard Kalin Lucas, even if that means exerting less effort
offensively. On big stages, Collins has thrived defensively. See last year's match-up against Derrick Rose in the national championship. But North Dakota State's Ben Woodside owned Collins in the first round of this year's tournament. Look for Self to challenge Collins on the defensive end.
QUESTION MARK
Who will step up to help out Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich?
In the second round victory, Kansas' other three starters combined for three points, five rebounds and seven turnovers. But it won't happen again. At least one of the other three will have a good game. The questions are who and will it be enough. The Jayhawks could look to their bench for more production also, but Tyshawn Taylor, Marcus Morris and Brady Morningstar are starters for a reason. They are supposed to be difference-makers.
HEARYE. HEARYE
"We're better than what we played against Dayton. We're better than that offensively. Those guys are better than that. I'm not making excuses because we're young — and I haven't made excuses I don't think all year long
— but that was the first time on that stage."
—Kansas coach Bill Self
"I told Cindy, 'It's a little bit different going to the Sweet Sixteen here than it was at Tulsa.' At Tulsa, there were parades and everything else going on. And now, it's like well, OK that's what we're supposed to do."
—Kansas coach Bill Self on a conversation he had with his wife
SCRAPPING WITH SPARTANS
Collins
KANSAS (27-7) STARTERS
KANSAS VS. MIGHIGAN STATE 8:37 p.m., LUCAS OIL STADIUM, Indianapolis, CBS
Rematch is expected to be just as gritty on the boards.
Sherron Collins, 5-foot-11 junior guard
He's a second team All-American according to United States Basketball Writer's Association. He's been the Jayhawks' leading scorer in 26 of 34 games this season. Right now, Collins is larger than life.
Taylor
Tyshawn Taylor, 6-foot-3 freshman guard
Taylor could be the key to the game for Kansas. When he shows up, the Jayhawks are one of the best teams in the nation. But a lot of times he fails to do so, like in the victory against Dayton when he scored three points with six turnovers.
Morningstar
Brady Morningstar, 6-foot-3 sophomore guard
Morningstar will defend Raymar Morgan most of the game. It is a mismatch as Morgan is significantly taller than Morningstar, who will need to find a way to make his height disadvantage a nonfactor.
Morris
Morris played 14 minutes against Dayton. Didn't notice? It was quite difficult as he failed to record a single point or rebound. His only contribution was one turnover and one foul.
Marcus Morris, 6-foot-8 freshman guard
Aldrich
Mr.Triple-Double will face the best frontcourt since Kansas ended its regular season against Texas and Dexter Pittman.
Win or lose, Aldrich is going to be the sorest Jayhawk Saturday morning.
★★★★
SIXTH MAN
A bona fide X-factor for the Jayhawks and Self isn't even trying to hide it. Self has praised Little this week for his performance in the first two
Mario Little,
6-foot-5 junior guard
tournament games and mentioned that he wasn't healthy for the first Michigan State game.
Little
MICHIGAN STATE (28-6) STARTERS
Case Keefer
Kalin Lucas, 6-foot-0 sophomore guard
Lucas
Rain Leces's foot Sophomore guard Lucas hits 40 percent from the floor, 39 percent behind the three-point line and 81 percent at the free-throw line. Add in 152 assists and 34 steals and you've got the runaway Big 10 Player of the Year.
Travis Walton, 6-foot-2 senior guard
A lockdown defender, Walton can score when his team really needs it (See: 18 points against USC). Lucas' backcourt mate also dished out 109 assists and led the team with 51 steals this season.
Walton
Raymar Morgan, 6-foot-8 junior forward
A versatile big man, Morgan was Michigan State's co-MVP last season. This year he's taken more of a balanced role, pouring in 10.7 points on 54 percent shooting and grabbing 5.5 rebounds per game.
Delvon Roe, 6-foot-8 freshman forward
Morgan
Last year Roe was a Sporting News First Team All-American at St. Edward High School. This year Roe has been coach Tom Izzo's biggest surprise. He leads the team with 56 percent shooting (for 6 points per game) and 26 blocks.
Roe
Goran Suton, 6-foot-10 senior center
Michigan State's leading rebounder (8.3 rpg), Suton did much more than that to get the Spartans into the Sweet Sixteen. Suton drew a foul with just three seconds
on the shot clock and hit both free throws to put the Spartans up 73-69 with 1:19 remaining.
Suton
SIXTH MAN
6-foot-3 sophomore guard Allen's spark off the bench comes from beyond the arc. He leads the Spartans with 51 three-pointers and
Allen
averages nine points per game.
Taylor Bern
Cole Aldrich
MSU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
The Spartans didn't get to the Sweet Sixteen easily. After rolling through Robert Morris, Michigan State ran into a determined USC squad that led late in the game. But a career-high 18 points from Big 10 defensive player of the year Travis Walton helped Sparty escape with a 74-69 victory to move into the Sweet Sixteen for the eighth time in 12 years. Coach Tom Izzo's crew was the class of its conference all season and, despite a minor scare, it's playing some of its best basketball of the year.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Sophomore guard Kalin Lucas
The Big 10 Player of the Year led his team in points, assists and free throw percentage while ranking
second in steels
The sopho-
more floor
general also
plays nearly 32
minutes per
game, but he's
almost never
in foul trouble
and doesn't
show any signs
Lucas
of wearing down after a long season. Lucas is Michigan State's motor and as long as he's running it has the ability to do just about anything.
QUESTION MARK
Will Kansas resort to a junk defense to control Michigan State's balance?
A few teams have tried this, most recently USC, but few have found much success. Of course no team, no matter what it did, has had much success against the Spartans this season. Coach Tom lzzo's team rivals Bill Self's national championship team in balance as seven players average at least five points but none score more than 15 per game. A possible counter to that is a constant rotation of 2-3, 3-2 and box-and-one zone defenses.
HEAR YE. HEAR YE
"You have to keep him away from the basket. But at the same time you can't front him too much because they'll throw an over-the-top pass for an easy layup or a dunk."
MSU center Goran Suton on how to guard Cole Aldrich
"He is a (Ty) Lawson-type player, except I think he shoots it better. He can go north and south as quick, and I think he can go east and west. His strength, his intelligence and his ability to shoot it make him a hard cover."
— MSU coach Tom Izzo on Sherron Collins
NCAA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Game Time (CT)
Time (CT) Chai
Arizona vs. Louisville 6:07 p.m. CBS
Syracuse vs. Oklahoma 6:27 p.m. CBS
Kansas vs. Michigan State 8:37 p.m. CBS
Gonzaga vs. North Carolina 8:57 p.m. CBS
Channel
JAMES NAISMITH WOULD APPLAUD IF...
PHOG ALLEN WILL ROLL OVER IN HIS GRAVE IF...
Kansas limits its turnovers. In their first-round game, the Jayhawks turned the ball over a season-low five times. In the second round, they reverted to a more ordinary 17 times. Foolish turnovers are the quickest way to start a run for Michigan State. All eyes are on you, Tyshawn Taylor.
SNAPSHOT
Michigan State dominates Kansas on the boards again. When these teams met in January, the Spartans had 42 rebounds and the Jayhawks had only 31. it's the statistic that irks Self the most from that loss and with good reason. Self said if the rebounding margin was any greater than three in favor of the Spartans this time around, the Jayhawks were in serious trouble.
Prediction: MICHIGAN STATE 74, KANSAS 72
Kansas coach Bill Self, left, and Tyrone Appleton laugh during practice Thursday in Indianapolis. With expectations the, the Jayhawks are free to play without pressure now.
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