8B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
GAMEDAY
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006
One game at a time
KU TIP-OFF
AT A GLANCE:
Kansas comes into the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation. Kansas has won 22 of its past 25 games, went 13-3 in conference play and won three straight games in the conference tournament to take the title. Kansas does it with youth, with its top seven scorers being freshmen and sophomores.
CJ GILES. The sophomore center
will have his hands full when he faces Bradley's 7-footer, Patrick O'Bryant. Giles will not start, but will play an integral role when he replaces sophomore center Sasha Kaun.
PLAYER TO WATCH:
Kansas avenged a 25-point loss to Texas earlier this season by defeating the Longhorns in Dallas in the Big 12 Championship game. Freshman guard Mario Chalmers led the way for Kansas throughout the conference tournament, averaging 16 points per game. Kansas had five players in double figures in the game and held Texas center LaMarcus Aldridge to just five points.
Giles
15 - victories for Kansas in its past 16 games
LAST TIME OUT:
Giles needs to play good defense and use his long arms to help alter O'Bryant's shots. He also needs to make sure he does not pick up careless fouls. If Giles can stop O'Bryant, it will allow Kansas to spread its defense.
5 QUICK FACTS:
17 - consecutive NCAA tournament appearances for Kansas
2. 69 - Steals per game for freshman guard Mario Chalmers
13. 6 - points per game for freshman guard Brandon Rush
36. 8 - field goal percentage defense for Kansas, which leads the nation
KEY TO VICTORY:
Forget about the hype. It appears that nearly every national punit from Digger Phelps to Jay Bilas thinks that Kansas is going to make a significant run in the tournament this season. Kansas players need to focus on their opponent today rather than what they might do in a few weeks. That should not be difficult for Kansas, if it looks at what happened to the team last year in a first-round loss to Bucknell.
Kansas vs. Bradley 8:30 p.m., The Palace of Auburn Hills
KANSAS
With freshman guard Brandon Rush struggling on the offensive end in recent weeks, Kansas has found other ways to get points. Freshman guard Mario Chalmers has been more active and averaged 16 points per game during the Big 12 Tournament last week en route to a Most Outstanding Player of the tournament award. Senior guard Jeff Hawkins provided a spark off the bench by hitting four of five clutch three-pointers during the Big 12 Championship game. The Kansas offense will need to get the ball inside to sophomore centers Sasha Kaun and CJ Giles to get the Bradley big men in foul trouble.
DEFENSE:
The Kansas defense is the best in the nation in field goal percentage defense, allowing its opponents to shoot just 36.8 percent from the field. Kansas does it with first team all-Big 12 defensive team guards Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson. These two pressure opposing guards and force steals. Chalmers led the conference in steals with 2.69 per game. The Kansas post players will have their hands full guarding Bradley's Patrick O'Bryant and Marcellus Sommerville. Kaun and Giles will not be expected to do much on the offensive end, but they must find a way to stop Sommerville and O'Bryant if Kansas is going to get the victory.
COACHES:
There have been few coaching jobs in the country this season as impressive as
playing defense, leading to one of the most dominant defensive teams in the country. Self was honored by the Big 12 as coach of the year and most certainly will be a candidate for national coach of the year. Self needs to find a way to stop Bradley post players Sommerville and O'Bryant. If Self can find a way, it should be an easy victory for Kansas.
the job of Kansas coach Bill Self. Self has led a starting line up of three freshmen and two sophomores to a Big 12 Championship. His players have bought into
Ryan Colaianni
BRADLEY
OFFENSE:
BRAVS BRAVS BRAVS
Bradley finished the season in a flurry, winning eight of its last 10 games, and it has done it with its offense. The Braves regularly score more than 70 points a game and were the highest-scoring team in the Missouri Valley Conference with 74.4 points per game. As a team, the Braves shot 44.4 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from three-point distance. The team's leading scorer was senior Marcellus Sommerville, who averaged 15.4 points per game. He led the team with 53 three-pointers on the season. Bradley has a total of three players who average in double figures: Patrick O'Bryant, Tony Bennett and Lawrence Wright.
Bradley boasts the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year in sophomore center O'Bryant. O'Bryant led the conference in blocked shots. He enters the NCAA tournament 9th nationally. O'Bryant had 69 blocks on the season, with the next closest MVC player coming in at 21. Senior guardTony Bennett was third in the MVC with two steals per game. Although Bennett led the team in steals, Bradley coach Jim Les said that junior guard J.J.Tauai was the team's best man-to-man defender. Tauai is not much of a threat on offense but starts because of his defensive abilities. Bradley's opponents shot just 39.8 percent from the field, just 2 percent more than Kansas' opponents.
Coach Les might have saved his job this year by compiling a 20-9 record. It was his first winning season at Bradley, and came in his fifth season as coach. Before
COACHES:
this season, Les' record at Bradley was 49-69. Not only is this Les' first NCAA Tournament, it is his first postseason game in his tenure at Bradley. Les played at Bradley and became the 45th coach nationally to play in the NCAA tournament and then lead his alma mater back to the tournament. Even if Les' team loses to Kansas tonight, it will still finish the year with its best winning percentage since the 1995-1996 team, which finished 22-8.
Daniel Berk
BU TIP-OFF
AT A GLANCE:
It's not difficult to find the spot when the Bradley season turned around. On Jan. 11, Bradley lost at home to Wichita State, its third loss in a row. The loss dropped the team to 2-4 in conference and 8-6 overall. After starting four new players the next game against Evansville, the team won 90-62 and then went on to finish the season 12-4.
PLAYER TO WATCH:
Marcellus Sommerville.The senior forward was named second-
team all-conference this year after being named first-team in 2004 and 2005. He averaged 15.4 points per game this season. During the past 14 games, Sommerville has been
Sommerville
the team's hottest player, scoring 16.7 points per game and shooting 47 percent from the field.
LAST TIME OUT:
5 QUICK FACTS:
Bradley lost the Missouri Valley title game to Southern Illinois and had to wait and see if it would receive an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament. After waiting a week, the Braves found out they did receive an invitation. In the Southern Illinois game, Bradley took a one-point lead into halftime, but couldn't hold it together in the second half.
2 Final Four appearances in Bradley's school history, in 1950 and 1954.
5 Bradley's position in the Mo. Valley Conference.The team still managed to earn a NCAA tournament bid as an at-large team.
9. 2 - Bradley's steals per game, right behind Kansas' 9.7 steals per game.
13-0 -The team's record this season when Bradley has fewer fouls than its opponent.
14-4 Bradley's record on the season when it out rebounds its opponents.
KEY TO VICTORY:
Keeping Patrick O'Bryant out of foul trouble. Kansas proved last week things are easier for them when the dominant big man is on the opposing bench. Kansas found that out last weekend when it beat Texas and its center LaMarcus Aldridge wasn't in the game because of foul trouble. If the 7-foot O'Bryant is in the game, he will cause as many problems for Sasha Kaun and CJ Giles as Aldridge did. He is a sure-fire NBA player and is extremely talented.
NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Gerry Broome/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Seton Hall's Stan Gaines, left, guards Wichita State's Kyle Wilson in the second half of their NCAA First Round basketball tournament game at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday.
Wichita State shocks East
Sean Ogirri had 23 points and hit six three-point shots to lead Wichita State past Seton Hall of the vaunted Big East 86-66 Thursday in the first round of the Washington regional. This gave the mid-major conference an impressive debut after hearing plenty about its haul of four NCAA tournament bids.
Paul Miller scored 15 points for the seventh-seeded Shockers (25-8). It was their first NCAA tournament game since an 83.
The coach insisted his team — which won the regular-season title, but lost in the league tournament — belonged in the NCAA tournament. He said the Shockers were eager to play a Big East school. He was proven right on both counts
Kelly Whitney scored 18 points to lead the 10th-seeded Pirates (18-12), who battled through the rugged Big East to reach the tournament for the second time in three seasons.
62 first-round loss to DePaul in 1988.
BY AARON BEARD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENSBORO, N.C. Score an early victory for the Missouri Valley Conference against its critics.
Shockers make it to next round
Wichita State led just about the entire way, getting a strong first half from Ogirri and Miller
The coach insisted his team — which won the regular-season title, but lost in the league tournament — belonged in the NCAA tournament. He said the Shockers were eager to play a Big East school. He was proven right on both counts.
It was Wichita State's first tournament victory in 25 years and provided the MVC a quick bit of vindication after raising eyebrows with four bids, the same as the Atlantic Coast, Big 12 and Pac-10 conferences. The criticism included CBS analyst Billy Packer grilling selection committee chairman Craig Littlepage over the selections, which clearly bothered Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon.
to build a 20-point lead late in the half and lead by 16 at the break.
Miller scored 11 points in the first half, starting the game with a hook shot just nine seconds in. He followed that up by a jumper from the right corner on the next possession. Ogirri, meanwhile, scored 12 points on four three-point shots.
Seton Hall never got closer than 11 in the second half, ending an up-and-down season that saw the Pirates beat Pittsburgh and West Virginia and also lose to Duke by 53 points in November.
Seton Hall tried to rally, pulling to 55-44 on a three-point shot from Donald Copeland with about 12 minutes left. But the Shockers never let the Pirates get the lead below double figures.