The matchup is set, the second round is now just a day away and we all know that top-seeded Kansas will face No. 8 seed Seton Hall at 6:10 p.m. Saturday on TBS.
So what, exactly, does that mean?
Well, throughout the rest of the day, we’ll get an opportunity to find that out, as we get into both locker rooms and ask the players and coaches about the matchup.
But in the meantime — KU’s locker room opens around 1:00 and Seton Hall’s opens around 2:00 — let’s take a quick look at the basics.
Here are three quick reasons to smile and three reasons to sigh from the KU perspective.
We’ll have much more throughout the day, but here’s a little something to hold you over until the main course.
3 reasons to smile –
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**1 – I’ll be honest, I thought NC State looked like the better matchup for Kansas, both from a stylistic standpoint and because of the fact that KU senior Devonte’ Graham knows those guys so well.** But that one would’ve been more of a game of similar styles facing off against one another. In this one, it’s a little bit of that size against speed thing that we saw against Texas A&M earlier this season. That’s not to say Seton Hall is quite as big as A&M or that KU’s quickness advantage will be that pronounced. But I think it’s there. Seton Hall has big guards who move heavy in half-court sets and could have a hard time matching up with Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk, Lagerald Vick and even Malik Newman and Marcus Garrett. If KU’s offense plays at a crisp pace, attacking off the bounce and getting the ball moving, it should give the Pirates problems. That’s in the half-court. If KU can get out in transition, that will make the advantage even greater. Even though Seton Hall is also comfortable on the run, they’re not quite as fast.
**2 – Seton Hall may have just played its best game.** Watching courtside, it was clear that the Pirates were playing for their lives and played incredibly hard to advance. The Jayhawks did, too, of course, but the challenge was not quite as great — especially for the KU defense — and there was just something about that Seton Hall-NC State game that looked like it took a greater toll on the players. I’d expect the Jayhawks to put the Pirates in a ton of pick-and-roll situations, both because it’s best for Kansas to keep the ball in Graham’s hands and let him dictate everything that happens and also because Seton Hall’s defense is vulnerable against ball screens.
**3 – Throughout the years, Bill Self coached KU teams have been pretty tough to beat on short notice.** Self and his coaching staff have always done a fantastic job of quickly coming up with a game plan and, more importantly, communicating it to their players in a way that both makes sense and does not overwhelm them. Devonte’ Graham should help a lot here, as well, as there’s pretty much nothing that guy hasn’t seen. Add to that the fact that KU did not play its best game by any means in Round 1 and it’s easy to see the Round 2 effort looking much more relaxed and efficient. Mykhailiuk and Newman, in particular, seem to be due for big bounce-back games. If that happens, Graham does his thing and the Jayhawks get anything from their three-headed big man monster — remember, without Azubuike, Mitch Lightfoot and De Sousa averaged 15 points and 13 rebounds in 3 games at the Big 12 tourney — it should be advantage Kansas. Let’s not forget the home-court edge in atmosphere that will be 100 percent in KU’s favor.
3 reasons to squirm
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**1 – Angel Delgado is a beast and he could be a handful for the KU big men.** The second-team all-Big East player has a relentless motor and plays with a lot of passion. He can play all over the floor, loves the spin move in the post and has a decent but inconsistent jumper for a guy his size (6-10, 245). In all honesty, though, if Delgado is pulling jumpers, KU will be absolutely ecstatic. If KU center Udoka Azubuike were completely healthy, this would not be nearly as big of a concern, even though Delgado’s quickness could still give Azubuike problems. This, to me, seems like a pretty good matchup for Silvio De Sousa, much the way going up against Sagaba Konate was last weekend. That’s not to say De Sousa will have the same kind of success against Delgado that he had against Konate, but KU will need him to be on that level. I’d also look for a lot of doubling of Delgado on the catch. KU has done a terrific job at this all season — and, really, throughout Self’s time in charge — and in addition to taking him out of the game a little, it could force Delgado into forcing passes out of the double team and into turnovers, which would aid KU’s quest for transition.
**2 – Offensive rebounding is a real strength of Seton Hall’s and it goes beyond Delgado,** who ranks eighth nationally at almost four per game. As a team, the Pirates rank 37th nationally in offensive rebounding, getting 12.2 offensive boards a game, and 28th in the nation in getting 34.1 percent of available opportunities. KU, meanwhile, as you all know, ranks 280th in the country in giving up offensive rebounds, allowing opponents to get 31.2 percent of their misses back. KU’s guards have shown they can hit the glass, especially Newman and Svi. And all five of them will have to be willing to do that kind of work in order for KU to neutralize what should be Seton Hall’s biggest edge.
**3 – The experience edge, as a whole, goes to Seton Hall,** as the Pirates have a bunch of seniors and upperclassmen who are playing for their lives and have a better understanding of what a loss means. KU has the same thing going for it with Graham and Svi, but those young guys, even though there’s no doubt that they want to win for their seniors, might not fully understand everything that goes into the win-or-go-home mindset. Even with a younger lineup, KU has much more NCAA Tournament experience than the Pirates because of KU’s ability to go deep in the past couple of tournaments. As much as the experience/urgency factor could favor the Hall, it also could go against them, as there has been a tendency for teams to tighten up when they know their season is on the line.
Much more where this came from. This was just a quick look. So stick with KUsports.com throughout the day and leading up to game time on Saturday for all kinds of coverage on this second round matchup.