Final Four Storylines: Kansas vs. Ohio State

Published: 27^th Mar 12 12:08 am

by Adam McGill
adammcgill

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Final Four Storylines: Kansas vs. Ohio State

Michael Ivins-US PRESSWIRE

By Adam McGill

With both number one seeds from this side of the bracket already watching from the rest of the tournament from home, it gives one of these number two seeds a chance to keep going. Kansas and Ohio State are both extremely physical teams,; in what should be an extremely exciting game. Below are my top storylines for the Final Four matchup of Kansas and Ohio State:

1. Which star point guard will have the most assists, Ohio State’s Aaron Craft or Kansas’ Tyshawn Taylor?

Craft shocked the world with his 17 points and career high 10 assists in Ohio State’s 73-66 third round win over Gonzaga. The sophomore has quickly picked up the Buckeye’s offense and will be very difficult for Taylor to contain. Taylor has struggled early in the tournament, but the kid is playing amazing right now. “TNT” was explosive with the ball last game and his 22 points with 5 assists last round carried the team past the heavily favored North Carolina Tar Heels. These are two of the strongest point guards in the nation, so this matchup will be exciting from the very first tip.

2. Who will win the “Battle of the Bigs”?

This game features two of the most athletic forwards in the nation. Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger already has an NBA body as a sophomore and is an extremely aggressive rebounder. He fights for every rebound and will frustrate Kansas all day.

However, Thomas Robinson is similarly averaging 17.9 points and 11.9 rebounds this year. “T-Bone” is a very beefy six-foot-ten and can throw down anything in the paint. Robinson will be a much more physical player than Sullinger is used to matching up against, so he could get into foul trouble early if he is not careful.

3. Which team will hit more 3-pointers in the game?

In most games this year, the team that hit the most 3-pointers went on to win the matchup. Both teams striving to make it to the championship have an array of outside shooters with the ability to knock down shots in bunches. Kansas relies on the strong shooting of their guard combo, Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson, who combine for around 3.5 3-pointers per game. However, Kansas’ big man, Thomas Robinson, has also been know to spread the floor out by hitting some outside shots as well. Ohio State also has some very strong outside shooters, as William Buford and Lenzelle Smith Jr. have combined to hit 14 threes in their four tournament games. Both sides have some electric shooters, but the team that hits the most outside shots will obviously have the best chance to win this game.

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