Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

Prediction Ohio State and Kansas

Published on March 31, 2012 by Scott Shirley   ·   1 Comment

The Buckeyes are playing their best basketball of the side right now at both ends of the court. They feature the two leading scorers in the whole NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes are led by Jared Sullinger, who is a dominant low post scorer,and also controls the glass. Sullinger was pretty good the first weekend but last weekend he was unstoppable. In the tournament he is averaging 18 points and 8.3 rebounds. In the tournament is shooting 81 % (27-33) from the free throw line. That’s pretty impressive for a post player. Despite getting in foul trouble early and being forced to sit most of the 1st half Jared Sullinger had a huge game with 19 points and 7 rebounds against Syracuse. He just had too much muscle for Syracuse inside. While Sullinger is the Buckeye’s best player Deshaun Thomas is the hottest player in the country. He is the leading scorer of the NCAA tournament. In 4 games he is averaging 21.7 points per game. He can score in multiple ways he is so hard to defend. Thomas is also averaging 8.5 rebounds in the NCAA tournament.

Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft is the best on the ball defender in the country. Last game against Sryacuse he shut down Dion Waiters and Scoop Jardine. He is probably the best all-around point guard in college basketball. So far in the tournament he is averaging 10.3 points, 5.8 assists, 3.3 steals and 4 steals. Not bad. Lenzelle Smith Jr. has stepped in up big time for the Buckeyes. During the regular season he only averaged about 6 points per game in the tournament he is averaging 11.3 points. He is averaging 17.5 points in his last two games. He is also averaging 5.5 rebounds and making 2 threes per game. The scary thing is Ohio State is winning and William Buford has not had a great game yet. In the tournament he is shooting 30 % (13-44) from the floor. However, Buford is capable and not afraid to take a big shot. The only other weakness of the Buckeyes is they don’t get a lot of production out of their bench. They are shooting the three a lot better than they did in the NCAA tournament.

What a great coaching job Bill Self has done with this Kansas team. This is probably his least talented team. Just look at Kansas’ last game against North Carolina to see what a great coach Self is. Kansas was up 68-67 with about 3:30 minutes left, and all they did to finish the game was go on a 12-0 run. After allowing 47 points in the 1st half the Kansas defense really turned it up in the 2nd half only allowing 20 points. A major reason for this was the triangle and two defense Bill Self used. What a great coaching move.

The Jayhawks are led by Thomas Robinson. Robinson is the most dominant low post scorer in the country. He is also probably the strongest too. In the NCAA tournament he is averaging 15.6 points and 12.5 rebounds. Robinson even hit a three last game against North Carolina. Robinson was his usual dominant self-finishing against UNC with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Point guard Tyshawn Taylor is one of the best points guards in the nation though he struggled in his first 3 tournament games only averaging 8.6 points per game. Last game against UNC he broke out and scored 22 points. He also finished that game with 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. In 4 tournament games he is averaging 5 rebounds per game not bad for a guard.

Elijah Johnson and Jeff Withey have stepped up big time for Kansas in the tournament. Withey was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and so far he has lived up to the hype in the NCAA tournament. He is averaging 5 blocks and 6 rebounds. Withey is also averaging 8.4 points per game. Last game he shut down UNC’s bigs. Johnson has stepped us game big time for the Jayhawks. In the tournament he is averaging 13.5 points per game compared to only 9.6 in the regular season. He is making about 2 threes per game in the tourney. Johnson three late sealed the win for Kansas. Travis Releford is best known for being a great defender. In the NCAA tournament he is averaging 8.3 points and 4 rebounds. Last game against UNC he had 11 points and shut down Harrison Barnes.The Jayhawks out rebounded the best rebounding team in the nation North Carolina by 10. They also took care of the ball only committing 8 turnovers.

As for the game I like the Buckeyes to win. Although Kansas already beat Ohio State that was at Kansas and OSU played without their best player Jared Sullinger. While Jeff Whitey height will give Sullinger fits I still think he will dominate this game. He has improved his game away from the basket. I also think Deshaun Thomas will have a lot of success pulling away Thomas Robinson from the basket. Robinson is use to guarding players away from the basket. As a team the Buckeyes take care of the ball a lot better than Kansas. Look for the struggling William Buford to hit a big shot late to seal the victory for the Buckeyes.

Score : Ohio State-65 Kansas-60

 

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