tuesday,november 25,2003
sports
the university daily kansan 3B
AS VS. AN STATE
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MPARE
Vs.
Davis, sophomore, Michigan State e Miles and Hill couldn't be different, it's hard to find two with more similar styles than nd Padgeth. Both are 6-foot-11, h David has more muscle at 255
s. Both are
both are top-10 s who can side or out oavis spent f his fresh-coming off but ended y, averaging ints and 5.3
Padgett
ds in Michigan State's four tournament games. This year. Michigan State's go-to guy; Bucknell, he scored 21 points 13 shooting.
a scoreless first half against hooga, Padgett came alive with mid-half points, helping to put its away, and also finished with funds. Both are supremely tal-but the Spartans get the advan-cre on Davis' experience and weight.
ADVANTAGE: Michigan State
BENCHES
ansas senior center Jeff Graves' still bothering him, it would be equalizer for Michigan State in if front court talent. The Sparr'll have attractive post options on the bench; two freshmen, forward Delco Rowley and cenv Naymick, played a combined lutes against Bucknell, scoring nts. If Graves is healthy and at of his trademark foul trouble,ounding ability makes him better than anything Izzo can counter with.
Michigan State's guard depth, however, is staggering. Two highly ranked freshmen, shooting guard Shannon Brown and point guard Brandon Cotton, give the Spartans their backcount of the future. Brown played 22 minutes against Bucknell and scored eight points. Then there's sophomore Maurice Ager, a good three-point shooter who averaged 6.7 points last year.
Giddens
Until freshman J.R. Giddens gets acclimated to the college game, bench scoring from the guard position could be nonexistent for Kansas. Giddens was fearless shooting from the outside against Chattanooga, but looked scared to put the ball on the floor and picked up four fouls in just 15 minutes of action.
Hawkins
Sophomore Jeff Hawkins will give Miles a few breathers, and senior forward Bryant Nash should see some minutes at small forward. With Graves' status uncertain, Kansas needs a few three-pointers from Hawkins and Giddens to get adequate bench production.
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ADVANTAGE: Michigan State
COACHING
A quick glance at the meetings between Illinois and Michigan State over the last three years shows that Self and Izzo generally staged Big Ten Conference-style battles: Games with relatively few shots and final scores in the 60s and 70s. Even with Self's Illinois teams running the highest-scoring offenses in the turtle-slow Big Ten, a Big Ten-type game usually resulted. A good team that wants to slow down a game, like Michigan State, can usually succeed. In other words, the pace of this game will likely resemble a Kansas-Oklahoma game more than a Kansas-Texas game.
Even if the game is played more at Izzo's pace, Self has a coaching advantage. After five meetings in three years, he knows Michigan State's team well; Izzo has never coached against any of the lavahawks.
ADVANTAGE: Kansas
Bottom line
Kansas had much more reason to be pleased with its opening victory than the Spartans did. The key here will be how the Jayhawks respond to a slow pace and strong defensive pressure, a complete 180 from the style they saw against Chattanooga. As usual, Allen Fieldhouse will be rocking for a big game, and that energy should get Kansas over the top in a close, somewhat ugly contest.
Prediction: Kansas 73, Michigan State 68
— Compiled by Joey Berlin
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
Junior guard Keith Langford leads the Jayhawks with 24 points after one game so far this season. Langford will match up against the defense-savvy Alan Anderson of Michigan State tonight.