SAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013
PAGE 5
KANSAS
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
For three halves at the beginning of the NCAA Tournament, the Jayhawks looked as if they were playing not to lose. In the fourth, it finally seemed like they wanted to win. It's fair to question how much pressure the status of being a No. 1 seed has added to a team playing in its own backyard. But now Kansas will play in a bigger stadium with bigger lights, and it's also fair to question which Kansas team will show up. Is it the team with potential first pick Ben McLemore firing on all cylinders, or the squad that struggled in Kansas City?
PLAYER TO WATCH
Ben McLemore, guard
McLemore
Mikasa is the player to watch, considering he's been hard to find as of late. He averaged an impressive 17.4 points per game in Big 12 play this season, but just 13 points
McLemore
per game on the road. In postseason that average drops to 10.4 points per game, it's clear that McLemore has the talent to shine, he just needs to put more work into his performance tonight.
QUESTION MARK
How Does Kansas Avoid The Slow Start?
Two games into the tournament, Kansas has yet to figure this out. Is it too much pressure? Are the Jayhawks having trouble getting loose? Or does Bill Self not give out the game plan until halftime? Whatever the reason, Kansas can't afford a slow start against Michigan. The Wolverines raced out to a 38-23 lead in the first 20 minutes against Virginia Commonwealth and never looked back. The Jayhawks have to take their show on the road with the added pressure of a Sweet Sixteen and playing in the cavernous Cowboys Stadium.
Kansas plays like it's December. Just a few months ago, the Jayhawks ran through the likes of Colorado, Temple and Ohio State. The dunks were plentiful, the team was in rhythm and Kansas could do no wrong. What happened to those guys? If the Jayhawks can come out and play like there's no pressure, it'll be hard to fault them even if the result is unfavorable.
BIG JAY WILL CHEER IF...
BY THE NUMBERS
Jeff Withey needs seven blocks to break Tim Duncan's NCAA Tournament All-Time record.
Bill Self has been to five Elite Eights.
55
Points by Perry Ellis since the start of the NCAA tournament.
Releford
Hunting for Wolverines Jayhawks battle Michigan in Arlington NO. 1 SEED KANSAS VS. NO. 4 SEED MICHIGAN 6:37 P.M., COWBOY STADIUM, ARLINGTON, TEXAS
McLemore
Johnson
Young
KANSAS
(31-5, 14-4 BIG 12)
STARTERS
Withey
STARTERS
ELIJAH JOHNSON, POINT GUARD
It's not like Johnson has shined in postseason play, but he has demonstrated efficiency. Aside from one missed basket against Iowa State, Johnson has been perfect at the free throw line since the start of the Big 12 tournament and is averaging four assists per game. Yet, he'll probably need to do more defensively to get past Michigan. The Jayhawks' senior guard will likely have the duty of slowing down player of the year candidate Trey Burke in what will be a key matchup in this Sweet Sixteen game.
One could argue that no player has been more important to the Jayhawks' success in the first two rounds than Releford. He completed more than 66 percent of his shots against Western Kentucky and North Carolina and has been Kansas' best defender on the floor. Playing in his hometown of Kansas City at the Sprint Center was an advantage. But the Jayhawks need his senior leadership and clutch scoring. Releford's defensive game could be his biggest asset against the Wolverines.
TRAVIS RELEFORD. GUARD
BEN MCLEMORE. GUARD
We're still waiting to see what McLemore can do in the NCAA Tournament. His 11 points were hardly noticeable against Western Kentucky and he was benched after going 0-for-9 from the field against the Tar Heels. He could have hit a freshman wall, but he's going to need to find a way past it by tipoff if Kansas is going to advance. McLemore opens up the floor for not only the Jayhawk back court, but also the post players in Kevin Young and Jeff Wither
Make no mistake about it, this Kansas team goes nowhere without the recent play of Jeff Withey. Forget the fact that he's seven blocks away from breaking Tim Duncan's tournament record; Withey's offensive game has evolved to the point where he is no longer only a defensive player. He is scored at least 14 points in each of his last four games with no signs of slowing down. The center's matchup with Mitch McGary will certainly be entertaining.
Perhaps no player is better at being in the right place at the right time than Kevin Young. He crashes the boards on offense and defense, and puts an emphatic twist on simple plays. His energy is invaluable and, with longer timeouts in the NCAA Tournament, he should be able to carry the team. Young is a glue guy for this Kansas lineup. He will have to be ready to provide a spark at any given moment in the tense environment of Cowboys Stadium.
KEVIN YOUNG, FORWARD
JEFF WITHEY, CENTER
MICHIGAN (28-7, 12-6 BIG 10) STARTERS
NIK STAUSKAS, GUARD
TIM HARDAWAY JR.. GUARD
Stauskas
Although others in the backcourt such as Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke overshadow him, Stauskas contributes plenty to the Wolverines on both ends of the floor. He shoots 45 percent from the field and averages 11.3 points per game. He's the Wolverines' top 3-point shooter at 43 percent and shoots 88 percent from the free throw line. But his most impressive stat is that he's committed only 22 fouls all season despite averaging 31 minutes per game. The freshman has committed only one foul in the past seven games.
The son of former NBA star Tim Hardaway, the junior is averaging 16 points per game during the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. At 6-feet-6, Hardaway's rebounding skills are comparable to Ben McLemore, especially on the defensive end Hardaway leads the Wolverines with 150 defensive rebounds, almost 30 more than secondplace Glenn Robinson III. in a late-game situation. Hardaway is the best guard for Kansas to foul because he shoots only 70 percent from the free throw line.
Hardaway
TREY BURKE. GUARD
The sophomore guard joined Hardaway on the All-Big Ten First Team, but Burke went a step further and earned the conference's Player of the Year award. Burke averages 18.8 points per game, has snagged 55 steals and has notched 236 assists to only 76 turnovers. His 3.11 assist-to-turnover ratio is fourth in the nation. The last time he finished a game with more turnovers than assists was Nov. 23 against Kansas State.
Burke
MITCH MCGARY, FORWARD
The 6-foot-10 freshman has only four starts this season, but he's started both of Michigan's NCAA Tournament games. He bullied his way to 21 points and 14 rebounds on 10-of-11 shooting Sunday against Virginia Commonwealth and rolled to 13 points and nine rebounds in the round of 64 against South Dakota State. He shoots 60 percent from the field and guides Michigan with a team-best 5.9 rebounds per game. However, he's a monstrous liability from the free throw line, where he's gone only 19-of-41 for 46 percent.
★★★☆☆
GLENN ROBINSON III, FORWARD
After disappearing offensively in the Big Ten Tournament, the Wolverines' other son of a former NBA player has scored 35 points in two NCAA Tournament games, including 21 points against South Dakota State. Like Stauskas, Robinson fouls very little, garnering only 42 whistles against him this season despite averaging a healthy 33.2 minutes per game. While he doesn't shoot the 3-pointer often, he's 22-64 on the year for a respectable 34 percent as a forward.
McGary
Robinson
MICHIGAN TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Michigan personifies the widely held belief that college basketball contains many good teams, but no great ones. The Wolverines ascended to No. 1 in the Associated Press poll on Jan. 28, but ended up as a No. 4 seed in the tournament after playing against seven NCAA Tournament teams in the last 11 games of the season, going 6-5 in that span. But Michigan seems to be hot again. The Wolverines handled South Dakota State in their first game in the NCAA Tournament and then embarrassed Virginia Commonwealth 78-53 to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Trey Burke, guard
Burke
South Dakota State was the only school to hold Burke to less than 10 points this season, but it didn't really matter as the Wolverines easily advanced to
the round of 32. Burke has 13 20-point games on the year and 23 games with at least six assists, including three games of at least 11 assists. For as much as he distributes the ball, Burke averages only 2.2 turnovers per game.
QUESTION MARK
How well did the Big Ten prepare Michigan for the Big Dance?
Michigan is talented enough that it may very well have ended up with a No. 1 seed if it didn't play in the Big Ten, a conference featuring five teams with a No. 5 seed or better. The Wolverines finished 4-5 against ranked opponents, although it went 2-1 against teams that finished in the Top 25 but weren't ranked when they played Michigan. Kansas has four seniors in its starting lineup, but Michigan could be able to counter that with its arsenal of big-game experience in the Big Ten.
BABY JAY WILL WEEP IF.
Kansas continues to struggle offensively in the first half. Slow starts can suffice against Western Kentucky and North Carolina when it's a down year for the Tar Heels, but Trey Burke and Michigan will pounce on Kansas if the Jayhawks score 21 points and shoot 25 percent in the first half like they did against the Tar Heels. The Wolverines are too talented offensively and match up too well with Kansas to allow the Jayhawks to compensate for another sluggish offensive performance.
BY THE NUMBERS
PREDICTION KANSAS 73, MICHIGAN 66
For the first time in 19 years, Michigan has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. The 1993-1994 team was the last batch of Wolverines to advance that far.
49. 4 Michigan's starting five is shooting 49.4 percent from the field.
2
The number of sons of former NBA All-Stars starting for Michigan.