Kansas-Michigan State: Burning Questions

I was asked to write a joint article with one of the top Michigan State writers, previewing our two teams' second meeting of the season in Indianapolis on Friday.

Kansas comes into the game after beating a tough North Dakota State team who was making their first appearance in the tournament and easily beating Dayton in the second round.

Kansas and Michigan State now square off in a rematch of their Jan. 10 matchup that saw the Spartans prevail 75-62.

That was the Jayhawks last non-conference game, and after getting back to Lawrence with their wounds still open, Sherron Collins called a "players-only" meeting at a local Lawrence restaurant to hash out the team's problems.

The team responded, going a staggering 14-2 in conference in route to an outright conference title. I must say "staggering" because this is a defending National Championship team that lost all five starters from last season.

Likewise, Michigan State finished with a 15-3 conference record, easily winning the Big 10 regular-season title.

Kansas sits with a 27-7 overall record while Michigan State bests them by one game, sitting at 28-6. However, both teams are not playing for the best record in Indianapolis.

That brings me to the six questions Greg (the MSU guy) and I came up with to adequately preview this game.

SIX BURNING QUESTIONS:

1. Does the Jan. 10 result mean anything now?

I'd say it carries little weight.  This Jayhawks team has little in common with the team that was handily beaten in East Lansing.

Kansas' first-year players are much more mature, composed, and aggressive than they were in the first game against Tom Izzo's club.

Michigan State rode a wave of experience, composure, and a raucous home crowd to their 13-point victory.

When they meet at approximately 9:37 EDT on Friday night, Michigan State will have even more experience and composure, but they won't have the raucous home crowd.

While Indianapolis is closer to East Lansing than it is to Lawrence, the noise won't reverberate in a cavernous Lucas Oil Stadium like it does in the Breslin Center.

This time, the Spartan crowd will not be as influential.

2. To whom goes the coaching edge? And if it goes one way or the other, will it play that big a role in this contest?

It is hard to determine who has the coaching edge in this game. Just looking at the numbers, Self has the edge by one win. They are both 3-3 in their last six matchups.

Both coaches have a National Championship ring in this decade. Both are great recruiters. Both tend to get the most out of their players.

All of these factors make a great coach, and these coaches have all of the intangibles. One of the biggest differences is in-game demeanor.

Tom Izzo is much more physically animated than Bill Self. You don't need to read Izzo's mouth to know exactly what emotion he is feeling. At times, he almost looks like a flailing marionette puppet.

Self is a relatively cool guy. He rarely gets on the officials; when he does, he is intense. But he typically expresses his frustrations to his team. If he doesn't like what he is seeing, he'll call a time out and scream until he turns purple.

I'd say both carry so many of the intangibles and the exact same level of intensity, even though it gets expressed in different way.

The coaching edge is non-existent.

3. What has to happen for Kansas to win?

For the Jayhawks to advance to the Elite Eight, they have to put in a team effort. Not unlike the first game against the Spartans, Kansas has relied heavily on their two stars, Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins, for points, rebounds, and assists to get past the first two rounds.

That simply cannot happen this time around. Bill Self had individual meetings with his best freshmen on Tuesday.

During those meetings, he told the Morris twins and Tyshawn Taylor that they must play with intensity and worry about the intangibles (guarding, rebounding, and intensity).

He convinced them that if they concentrate on these intangibles, scoring will come much easier.

Finally, Kansas must be patient on offense because scoring in the 70s and 80s is the only way to beat Michigan State.

In each one of their six losses, Michigan State gave up 70 points or more. Kansas has to love that statistic. Historically, when the Jayhawks score 70 or more points there winning percentage eclipses the 95 percent mark, they simply don't lose when they score 70 points.

4. What can absolutely not happen to Kansas in this game?

The Jayhawks must stay out of foul trouble against the Spartans. In the first meeting, Kansas had 28 personal fouls, and they saw Markieff Morris and Mario Little foul out. That cannot happen if the Jayhawks are going to win.

Kansas will lose if Brady Morningstar, Tyrell Reed, and Tyshawn Taylor shoot terribly from behind the arc.

Morningstar may just be the catalyst for Kansas in this game. If he can somehow find his shot, Michigan State may have a tough time finding enough players to guard the Jayhawks' other three-point threats.

As I alluded to earlier, Kansas will have a tough time winning this game if it's played in the high 50s or low 60s. That is where Tom Izzo will want it, and the Spartans will probably come up victorious if that proves true.

5. Now that Bill Self has his team in the Sweet 16, can Kansas fans start expecting an Elite 8 or deeper run?

Kansas fans are some of the most loyal fans in the country. I would also say they all have great basketball minds, unlike the wine and cheese fans of Duke and especially North Carolina.

That said, some fans came into this year with low expectations. My guess is that a third-place Big 12 regular-season finish and maybe a semifinal Big 12 tournament exit was a common expectation.

I would also guess that a Sweet 16 appearance was probably the pinnacle of a season that saw the Jayhawks usher in a bunch of inexperienced players.

As the season progressed, and the Jayhawks put up the 14-2 record in the Big 12. At that point, I think Kansas fans' expectations started growing.

I think it is fair to say that most Kansas fans expected to go to the Big 12 tournament final and at least compete with Oklahoma for a two seed.

I doubt that the early exit to eventual tournament runner-up Baylor made Kansas fans revert back to their initial low expectations.

As far as expectations for the Michigan State game, I am guessing Kansas fans have mixed thoughts.

Kansas has not played all that well in the tournament, and I think many fans, me included, think Kansas is due for another performance similar to the one they put on in Norman, Oklahoma, back in late February.

I think most Kansas fans are hoping for a similar performance because it was the Jayhawks' best team win. And that is exactly what has to happen for them to beat this Michigan State team.

Prediction

I think Kansas can replicate the performance that saw USC nearly clip the Spartans in the second round. Kansas is a better team than USC when they are firing on all cylinders, and I am bullish on the prospects of that happening.

Kansas 76 Michigan State 69