University of North Carolina Athletics
Kansas Game Guide
April 5, 2008 | Men's Basketball
April 5, 2008
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 1 Carolina (36-2, 14-2) will face No. 4 Kansas (35-3, 13-3) in the Final Four's second national semifinal on Saturday night in San Antonio's Alamodome. Carolina is coming off of an 83-73 over Louisville, the four-seed, in the East Regional Final. Kansas, the one-seed in the Midwest Regional, defeated tenth-seeded Davidson in the Regional Final, 59-57. Kansas' 35 wins have tied a school record; the Jayhawks are on an 11-game winning streak. The Tar Heels are on a 15-game winning streak. Carolina's 36 wins are a school record. This team became the first team to have separate winning streaks of 15 games or more in a season (the Tar Heels began the season 18-0). The Tar Heels have won four straight NCAA Tournament games by double digits, becoming just the third team in Carolina history to accomplish that feat (1995 and 1998). Carolina's average margin of victory of 25.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament is the largest in school history.
Carolina will be playing in its 17th Final Four, tied for the most all-time with UCLA. It is also Carolina's eighth Final Four in the last 18 seasons (only seven programs have played in more than eight Final Fours in their history). Roy Williams has made his fourth final four in the last seven years (2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008) and his second in his five-year tenure at Carolina. Williams' is in his sixth Final Four overall, tied for fourth-most in NCAA history. Carolina has a 13-14 record in the Final Four, going 8-8 in national semifinal games, 4-4 in national championship games and 1-2 in third-place games. In Carolina's last trip to the Alamodome, the 1998 Final Four team was defeated by Utah in the national semifinal game, 65-59, in the final game for Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter.
Kansas is 80-36 in NCAA Tournament games in its history, making its 13th Final Four (tied with Kentucky for fourth all-time). The Jayhawks are 9-12 in the Final Four: 7-5 in semifinal games, 2-5 in the national championship and 0-2 in third-place games. Carolina leads the all-time series with Kansas, 6-2. The teams have played just once in the past 15 seasons. Carolina is 2-1 against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament; all three of those meetings have come in the Final Four. The 1957 team defeated the Jayhawks in the national title game, the 1991 team lost to Roy Williams' Kansas team and the 1993 team beat Williams' Jayhawks on its way to a title.
Game Time: North Carolina vs. Kansas, approximately 8:47 PM EST (40 minutes after the first semifinal).
Last Time: Carolina beat then No. 2 Kansas 67-56 in the Preseason NIT semifinal on November 22, 2002. Carolina was unranked and coming off of its 8-20 season. It was Matt Doherty's last season as Carolina head coach and Roy Williams' last as the head man at Kansas. Carolina shot 45.8% from the field and had 14 steals. Kansas shot 40.7% from the field (35.5% in the second half) and out-rebounded Carolina 41-28. The Jayhawks had 11 assists to 21 turnovers.
Rashad McCants led Carolina with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, eventually earning Tournament MVP honors two days later. Jawad Williams added 15 points. Raymond Felton had 10 points and four assists. Sean May added eight points, four steals, five blocks and a game-high 11 rebounds. Nick Collison led Kansas with 19 points. Kirk Hinrich added 13 points and Wayne Simien had 11 points.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 7:30 PM EST.
Injury Report: Ty Lawson is still recovering from a sprained ankle. Marcus Ginyard is playing through a stress reaction in his left foot. Bobby Frasor tore his left ACL and is out for the season. Kansas guard Rodrick Stewart broke his kneecap during the open practice on Friday and will miss the rest of the season.
Storylines
The toughest defensive game of the year: And not a minute too soon. This Kansas team may not be the most athletic team Carolina has faced all season, but it will be close to it. It may be one of the most offensively efficient teams in the country, though. The Jayhawks shoot 50.7% from the field, 55.2% from two-point range and 40.1% from three-point range. But what makes the Jayhawks particularly lethal on offense is that of their double-digit minute rotation (now without Rodrick Stewart), all seven average 7.3 points or more and the top four scorers average between 11.2 and 13.1 points per game. Four of the seven shoot 50% or better from the floor; two shoot 60% or better. The worst any rotation member shoots for Kansas is 42.2 percent, and that is by defensive stopper Russell Robinson.
"For us, Kansas presents more problems than anybody we've faced all year by far. I think they're the most balanced team that we've played all year. They have tremendous perimeter players who can score, who can defend. They have tremendous post players who can score, who can defend, who can rebound. The problem that they pose for us is that we really have to play our best defensive game of the year and it's not just focused on one guy," Roy Williams said.
Carolina allowed Louisville to shoot over 50 percent in both halves, the first time a Carolina opponent has done that in a game since Old Dominion back in November. Kansas has shot 52.4% from the floor in the NCAA Tournament and 42.3% from beyond the arc, averaging 7.5 made three's on 42.3 attempts. Davidson did manage to hold Kansas to a season-low 59 points on 44.4% shooting (5-of-14 from beyond the arc). But in Kansas' three previous games, it shot 25-of-57 (43.9%) from the three-point line. Kansas has shot 51.2% from the floor in its 35 wins this season and 44.8% in its three losses, averaging 81.7 points in wins and 68.0 in losses. The Jayhawks average 7.2 made three's on 17.5 attempts (41.1%) in wins and 4.0 three's to 15.0 attempts (26.7%) in losses. Kansas has also averaged 17.7 free-throw attempts in three losses compared to 22.0 in 35 wins.
Only seven teams have scored 40 or more points in the paint against Carolina this season. After Carolina beat Clemson in double overtime in Chapel Hill despite the Tigers scoring 50 points in the paint, Carolina went 13 straight games without allowing an opponent to score more than 38. Then Louisville broke the streak and had 42 points in the paint. However, in those seven games, Carolina's opponents are shooting 53.7% from two-point range and 27.2% from three-point range, averaging just 13.7 free-throw attempts per game. In Carolina's other 31 games, opponents have shot 45.8% from two-point range and 33.8% from three-point range, averaging 17.1 free-throw attempts per game.
Marcus Ginyard has never questioned this team's ability and potential to be the kind of lockdown defensive team that it needed to be to get to where it is now. What he did question at times during the season was the focus of this team to be able to do it. It's not a question to him anymore, and now it's time to go out and prove it. "I think that this team has continued to be challenged on the defensive end by the media, by the coach, and obviously by other teams. I think that this team has don ea great job of answering all of those challenges and just really getting a lot better defensively in the last month or so," Ginyard said. "So I think that this team is doing a great job of just continuing to get better and really locking down when we need to. I feel very confident in this team's capability defensively. It's not a concern of mine at all."
A smart, balanced offense in the halfcourt: In the NCAA Tournament so far, Carolina has shot 56.7% from the field, 39.7% from beyond the arc and 61.9% from two-point range. The Tar Heels are averaging 93.0 points per game and even though the point totals began to fall after the second round, Carolina scored the most points on Louisville in a half that the Cardinals have allowed this season. Only two other teams had broken 80 points on Louisville besides Carolina. The Tar Heels have done it running up and down the court; they've done it in the halfcourt.
After beginning the NCAA Tournament shooting 15-of-32 from beyond the arc (46.9%) in its first two games, Carolina has shot just 8-of-26 from the three-point line (30.8%) in its last two games. Those games were against very good defensive teams in Washington State and Louisville and Carolina did continue to force the issue on the inside, but it would be nice if the Tar Heels didn't have to rely on Tyler Hansbrough being forced to make two long two-point jumpers in order to keep a Louisville rally down. "It makes the game a lot easier for our team when me and Wayne (Ellington) are clicking and hitting shots. It opens up the inside for Tyler (Hansbrough). They can't double-team him as much because he'll find the shooter and one of us will knock it down," Danny Green said. "When you have more than one guy scoring, it makes your team more dangerous. You have to kind of play them honest because you can't just leave one guy and double another guy. It makes it easier for us to score if me and Wayne are hitting shots and it's easier for Tyler to work inside."
Carolina made just 1-of-5 three-pointers in the second half, though the three-pointer was a big one. Carolina's shooters will need to keep things as open as possible against the tough Kansas defense. The Tar Heels will also need to show a lot of patience. Carolina has faced two tough defenses already in this Tournament and fared pretty well against both. But this will be an entirely different task. There will likely be no full-court pressure to break. This kind of pressure will be in your face in the halfcourt, just waiting for you to make a mistake or force you into one. The Jayhawks have held all but one opponent (its first one this season) to below 50 percent shooting. "They put so much pressure on you on the perimeter. I've got to think that they're one of the top teams in the country just on steals because they just reach in and just take your ball. The pressure that they put on you out there makes you take rushed shots. They want you to turn it over first, but then also their harassment makes you take rushed shots or make passes that aren't very precise, and then all of a sudden they're stealing it and going down to the other end."
In Carolina's two losses this season, it combined to shoot 39.2% from the floor, 25% from beyond the arc and 71.1% from the foul line, averaging 79 points on 22.5 free-throw attempts (16 made) and 5.0 of 20.0 three-pointers. In the other 36 games, Carolina has shot 49.9% from the field, 39% from beyond the arc (5.6 made three's on 14.3 attempts) and 75.7% from the foul line, averaging 19.3 made foul shots on 25.4 attempts. Carolina averaged 89.7 points in its 36 wins.
Only three teams have beaten Kansas this season. Those teams combined to average 9.3 made three-pointers out of 21.0 attempts (44.4%). The teams hit just 39.6% of their two-point baskets in those three games, worse than what the Jayhawks held opponents to in their 35 wins (40.9%). But in Kansas' wins, opponents averaged 6.9 made three's out of 21.5 attempts. Fifteen of Kansas' 37 opponents have shot 20 or more free throws; the Jayhawks are 12-3 in those games. The three teams that beat Kansas did not shoot it terribly well from the field - 41.6% - but converted 77.2% of their foul shots (20.3 made out of 26.7 attempted). Kansas won 35 games in part by holding those opponents to 37.6% shooting and just 11.0 made foul shots on 16.6 attempts (77.2%).
Run, run, run: The Tar Heels have always been able to get their fastbreak going, but it appears to be humming like a well-oiled machine. From the Duke game in the regular season finale through the first two games of the ACC Tournament, Carolina scored just 20 total points (6.7 per game) on the fastbreak. But since facing the vaunted Clemson press in the ACC Tournament championship game, Carolina has averaged 24.2 fastbreak points per game. The Tar Heels broke the press and moved the ball up the court quickly, scoring 34 fastbreak points against the Tigers. In the first four NCAA Tournament games, Carolina has averaged 21.8 fastbreak points per game, including 22 against Arkansas, 16 against the slowdown Washington State defense and 20 against the Louisville press. "Just everybody bought into the system. Get a rebound, Marcus is out running, the big man is running and Wayne, so I have a lot of options to find the open man. If they don't stop me, I'm going to the basket. If they do stop me, I'm going to kick it out to Wayne or Marcus to knock down a shot. If they help up, Tyler's right there for the dunk," Ty Lawson said.
After allowing 12.7 fastbreak points per game in the ACC Tournament, including 15 to Clemson and 13 to Virginia Tech, Carolina has held its NCAA Tournament opponents to 8.0 fastbreak points per game. Mount St. Mary's, a team whose offense wanted to push the ball in transition, scored the most fastbreak points against Carolina in the NCAA Tournament so far with 12. Louisville had ten; no other NCAA opponent has cracked double figures.
Perhaps that explains why the Tar Heels were practically salivating at the idea of facing a team that finally wants to run with Carolina instead of slowing them down. It won't be as simple as all that - after all, Kansas has a lot more athletes than a team like Mount St. Mary's that tried to push tempo - but in the end, this is Carolina's style of play. Carolina is confident in that style and its ability to excel. "We just try to beat them up and down the court. There are a lot of schools out there that we've gone up against that have said they play that fast-tempo game and that they want to run with us. We always just try to put it to the test, see if they can run with us for 40 minutes. I think we've done a great job of having success with that, just continuing to run our game plan and get up and down the court. So I think it's going to be an exciting game out there, to have all that athleticism and to have a team with a game plan that's also to get up and down the court," Ginyard said.
Only five teams have scored ten or more fastbreak points against Kansas; the Jayhawks are 5-0 in those games. Davidson is the most recent team to do it, scoring 12 fastbreak points. Kansas, on the other hand, has averaged 13 fastbreak points in its 35 wins this season and 7.3 in its three losses. The Jayhawks are averaging 13.0 fastbreak points in its four NCAA Tournament games so far, including 32 in the last two rounds (16.0 per game). "When teams feel like they can run with us, we feel great about it. We feel like we're the best running team in the country. For a team to come out and want to run with us, somebody's going to give in, and we're pretty sure it's not going to be us," Wayne Ellington said. "It's going to be a track meet. We're both transition teams and that's something that we rely on. We like to get up and down the floor. I think we're the best team in the country at doing it."
Carolina = Clutch: Carolina has been up and down this season defensively, more up recently than down. Teams are going to make runs in games, but what Carolina has done to win games this year is get stops down the stretch and score points in the clutch. The Tar Heels have won 12 games this season that were tight down the stretch, either decided by ten points or less, in overtime or just withstanding runs to pull away. Those games are Davidson (four-point win), BYU (ten-point win), Ohio State (11-point win on the road), Clemson (win in overtime), Georgia Tech (one-point win), Florida State (win in overtime), Clemson at home (win in double-overtime), Virginia (two-point win), Duke on the road (eight-point win), Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament (two-point win), Clemson in the ACC Tournament (five-point win) and Louisville (ten-point win).
In those 12 games, Carolina has come back from deficits as large as 11 points down the stretch or simply maintained leads when other teams have gotten close. In the second half before the Tar Heels had to buckle down late in the games, Carolina allowed those 12 teams to shoot 46.5% from the field (154-331), 28% from beyond the arc (30-107) and 68.5% from the foul line (50-73), averaging around 2.0 points per minute. Down the stretch of those close games (including all overtime periods), Carolina has held opponents to just 20.4% shooting from the field (22-108), 17.8% from beyond the arc (8-45) and 54.5% from the foul line (18-33), holding opponents to 1.0 point per minute and forcing 26 turnovers in those 70 minutes (0.4 per minute) compared to 47 in the 190 minutes before that in the second half (0.2 per minute).
In the first part of the second half of those games, Carolina has shot 40.8% (125-306) from the field, 28.4% from beyond the arc (21-74) and 75.9% from the foul line (75.9%) and averaged 1.78 points per minute and turned it over 74 times in those 190 minutes (0.39 per minute). But down the stretch of those games, Carolina shot 48.2% from the field (40-83), 52.6% from beyond the arc (10-19) and 75.3% from the foul line (70-93), averaging 2.29 points per minute and turning it over just 17 times in those 70 minutes (0.24 per minute). When Carolina trailed or was tied late (in six of the games), the Tar Heels were even more clutch down the stretch, holding opponents to 19.4% shooting, 16.7% from beyond the arc and just 0.94 points per minute. Carolina shot 51.9% from the field, 53.8% from beyond the arc and 80% from the foul line, averaging a staggering 2.46 points per minute down the stretch of those games.
In contrast, in its two losses, in the first part of the second half, Carolina shot 43.6% from the field (24-55), 33.3% from beyond the arc (4-12) and 76.5% from the foul line (13-17), averaging 2.15 points per minute. Maryland and Duke shot a combined 46.8% from the field (22-47), 30% from the three-point line (6-20) and 71.4% from the foul line (10-14) in those first 30 or so minutes, averaging 1.98 points per minute. Against Maryland, Carolina was up two with 3:46 to go. Against Duke, Carolina pulled to within six with 5:57 to go. Down the stretch of both of those games, Carolina shot 21.7% from the field (5-23), 9.1% from the three-point line (1-11) and 61.5% from the foul line (8-13), averaging 1.96 points per minute. Maryland and Duke shot a combined 50% from the floor (4-of-8), 50% from beyond the arc (1-2), and 76% from the foul line (19-25), averaging 2.89 points per minute.
The NCAA Tournament, and particularly the Final Four, is not just about which team can play the best on offense or defense most of the game. It almost always comes down to which team can score that back-breaking basket or get that game-saving steal (see Felton, Raymond). Certainly every possession counts and if Carolina does not treat it that way, it will not be in a position to win the game at the end. But if it is, this ability to score points when needed and to get defensive stops will be very important. "This team has continued to show that when we need to get deeper, when we need to play better, when we need to play harder, when we need to play smarter, we do. I think that just shows how good this team really is," Ginyard said. "Every time we get into those sticky situations, we always get ourselves out and that's what you need. You just need a team that's going to be tough enough to not give in and to continue to push forward."
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium feed in the Alamodome will be on or around 94.5 FM.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
CBS coverage: The game will be available on CBS.
Names To Know
Tyler Hansbrough: The National Player of the Year now needs 31 points and eight rebounds to break Carolina's single-season records for points and rebounds. If it is even possible, Hansbrough has taken his game to another level in the NCAA Tournament, scoring 20 of Carolina's 39 second-half points against Louisville, including seven in a row after the Cardinals tied the game with 10:21 to go. In the NCAA Tournament, Hansbrough has averaged 21 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.3 assists, shooting 55.9% from the floor and an uncharacteristic 66.7% from the foul line.
"It's interesting to talk about Tyler taking it to another level. It's amazing to see his focus out there on the court, in practice and in the locker room. But I think he's definitely taken another step and become even more focused for the challenge that lies ahead for this team," Marcus Ginyard said. "There's no doubt about it, that after this weekend that there's not going to be anything that Tyler feels like he could have done better, he could have differently because he's going to give it all out there and he's going to lay it all on the line. We're just ready to follow his lead and just try to give that same effort that Tyler gives each and every night."
Hansbrough has attempted seven or fewer free throws in just ten games this season. Five of those have come in Carolina's last eight games, beginning with the Duke game and including three of Carolina's four NCAA Tournament games. His 12 field goals against Louisville were the most for him in a game since the Duke loss in the Smith Center. His 13 rebounds were also the most since that Duke game.
Washington State's Aron Baynes gave Tyler Hansbrough some trouble before Hansbrough could get adjusted in the second half, and even then nothing came easily. (He was 0-of-4 in the first half and 6-of-11 in the second half.) In fact, in the last two games, Hansbrough has shot 4-of-12 from the floor (33.3%), 2-of-4 from the foul line and scored ten points and pulled down nine rebounds in 36 minutes of first-half action. In the second half, Hansbrough shot 14-of-20 (70%) and 8-of-11 from the foul line, scoring 36 points and pulling down 13 rebounds in 38 minutes of second-half play.
But Kansas has a lot of big bodies to bang with Hansbrough, but the one that might be the most important is Kansas' 6-11 senior center Sasha Kaun. He is not quite as sturdily-built as Baynes was but is more than capable of holding his own in the paint, particularly defensively.
Ty Lawson: Ty Lawson did roll his ankle at the end of the Louisville game, but it was just a scare - the speedy sophomore point guard is in near-perfect health, and it shows. Lawson is averaging 15.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.5 turnovers per game, shooting 58.8% from the field, 66.7% from two-point range and 46.2% from the three-point line. He is also second behind Hansbrough in free-throw attempts in the Tournament, making 17-of-19 from the line (89.5%). His assist-turnover ratio has been a ridiculous 4.0 (20 assists to five turnovers).
"With Ty, after everybody has grown and the team has gotten better without Ty, to add Ty back into the mix has just been a huge plus for this team. This team has been playing with a lot more energy. Having Ty back out there running around as fast as he can, he's creating opportunities for this team in transition and even in the halfcourt set. It's tough to think of what this team isn't doing great right now," Marcus Ginyard said.
Against Louisville, besides Tyler Hansbrough no other Tar Heel was as important as Ty Lawson, a one-man press break. He had just 11 points on 2-of-5 shooting, but his clutch three-pointer late in the game (his only make in three attempts) was huge, as was his 6-of-6 free throw shooting and his nine assists. He will be leading this Carolina team against a quick Jayhawk team that will be looking to run with the Tar Heels. It will be up to him to make sure that Carolina is the team that runs better.
Wayne Ellington: Including the ACC Tournament, Wayne Ellington had shot 12-of-24 from beyond the arc in Carolina's first five postseason games. But in the last two games, Ellington has made just 2-of-8 three-pointers. Despite a bit of a slump, Ellington has continued to attack the basket and is shooting 51.5% from two-point range on his way to averaging 15.5 points a game in NCAA Tournament play. He is also averaging 5.5 rebounds in the postseason up from 4.3 in the regular season. Ellington has been the opposite of Tyler Hansbrough lately in that he has followed up a good first half with second-half struggles, shoot 8-of-16 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first half of the last two games, compared to 1-of-11 from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Ellington has improved his game on both ends, as has been documented, but his ability to run the floor with consistency has also been important to the potency of Carolina's fastbreak. He does not have to hit all of Carolina's perimeter shots, but he also needs to put pressure on Kansas' guards on the offensive end as well so that things can open up inside. But where Ellington will be the most important against Kansas is on the defensive end. He will be facing off against very talented Kansas guards that can put it on the floor and pull up and shoot three-pointers.
"One of the things Coach said mainly was his defense and defensively, he's become a lot better player. Last year, I guess Coach looked at him as one of the weaker defensive players on the team. Now, he's become one of the stronger ones just working, getting in the gym, extra time with the assistant coaches and learning the defensive principles and where to be at certain points of the game," Danny Green said. "When the ball is on the opposite side of the floor, he's on the help side. A lot of times last year, I think he would just be more focused on his man when our defense isn't based on that.
"Wayne, he's come up big for us. He's more mature. He knocked down that big shot for us that he has missed in the past last year. I know it's something he had in the back of his mind. He always had it hanging over his head. But we're confident in him. He's confident enough to step up and make that big shot for us now."
Danny Green: Carolina's sixth man has been the Tar Heels' x-factor all year long, so this game won't be any different. Green has saved the Tar Heels or gotten them going on numerous occasions, including his offensive flurry in the first half against Washington State when none of the other Tar Heels could manage to get anything going. He did the same thing against Louisville in the first half, scoring nine points on 2-of-3 shooting. He has had five steals in the first half of the last two games (a combined 23 minutes) and has shot a combined 7-of-10 from the field, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and scored 21 points. In the second half, he has shot 1-of-6 from the field, 1-of-5 from beyond the arc and scored five points and no steals.
What Green has always been able to do for Carolina, though, is to contribute in other areas, even if his shot isn't going in. One area he's been able to help out some is in playing the four-spot down the stretch. He guarded Louisville's Earl Clark and forced two quick turnovers on him. Despite the fact that Clark is taller than Green (at least two inches), Green bodied him up and let go (`pulled the chair), causing Clark to travel. Green is a mismatch against most teams; he can post up smaller guards and out-quick bigger players.
"I think we're a lot faster when I'm at the four. We get up and down faster and open up the floor more, and it's just Tyler in there kind of doing his thing or whoever else is the big man, if it's Alex (Stepheson) or Deon (Thompson), whoever the other big man is, they have a lot of freedom to just do what they want in the paint. There's not a lot of clogging up in there," Green said.
Brandon Rush: The 6-6 junior guard is the Jayhawks' leading scorer, averaging 13.1 points per game. Rush tore his ACL in May of 2007 and has come back and done very well this season. He leads the team in three-pointers made with 78 and is second in three-point percentage (42.9%). He is third on the team in rebounding (5.1 per game), fourth in assists (1.9 per game), and tied for third in blocked shots (30). He is an excellent defensive player, guarding the likes of everyone from an opposing team's best guard to Kevin Durant last season.
Rush has averaged 14.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament, shooting 41.5% from the field (39.1% from beyond the arc, 9 of 23) and adding 5.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 turnovers and 32.5 minutes. In three Big 12 Tournament games and the first two NCAA Tournament games, Rush shot a combined 19-34 (55.9%) from beyond the arc compared to 3-of-11 from the three-point line (27.3%) in the last two NCAA Tournament games. He is very capable of making shots, and he shoots 43.4% from three-point range in Kansas' 35 wins compared to 37.5% in the three losses. Against Davidson, he hit 4-of-14 shots from the field on his way to 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one block and one turnover in 36 minutes.
"We're going to defend him like we defend everybody else - man-to-man defense, staying in front and kind of limiting him to good shots. I know he's a very athletic guard. He's a good guard," Green said. "I've played against him pretty much throughout my whole high school career. I know how good he is. He can shoot the ball very well. So we're going to try to limit him to as many open shots as possible, try to make him take tougher shots, try to make him put it on the floor and shoot it over our big man's hands."
Mario Chalmers: The 6-1 junior guard is one of Kansas' most complete players in terms of his ability on both ends of the court. He is third on the team in scoring (12.7 points per game) and leads the team in double-figure scoring games. He shoots 52.2% from the field and a team-leading 47.6% from beyond the arc, making 70-of-147 three-pointers this season. He leads his team in assists (163) and ranks 28th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3). He ranks second on the team in free-throws made with 91 and is tied for second in free throws attempted with 122. He leads the team and is 13th in the country in steals with 90 (2.4 per game) and adds 3.1 rebounds per game. He is also a superb defender, leading the team in both floor burns (50) and charges drawn (11).
In Kansas' 35 wins this season, Chalmers has averaged 12.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.8 turnovers in 29.9 minutes, shooting 53.4% from the floor and 48.9% from beyond the arc. In the three losses, Chalmers shot 41.4% from the floor, 33.3% from beyond the arc and averaged 14.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 steals and 2.7 turnovers in 27.3 minutes. He fouled out of one of the two losses and had four fouls in each of the other two losses. In the NCAA Tournament, Chalmers is averaging 15.0 points, three rebounds, three assists, 2.5 steals and 1.3 turnovers, shooting 52.6% from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc (10-of-22). Against Davidson, Chalmers had 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting (3-of-4 from beyond the arc).
Darnell Jackson The 6-8, 250-pound senior forward is not just one of Kansas' many bodies to throw at Tyler Hansbrough. The senior is fourth on the team in scoring (11.2 points per game) but second in field-goal percentage (62%), first in rebounding (6.7 per game), first in free throws made (99) and attempted (145). The senior also ranks first on the team in dunks (42), is tied for second in floor burns (46) and is third in charges drawn (six).
In NCAA Tournament play, Jackson has shot 47.8% from the field and averaged 7.8 points, 6.5 rebounds (2.0 offensive), 1.5 assists and one steal in 23.3 minutes. Counting the final game of the Big 12 Tournament against Texas, Arthur has shot 11-of-25 (44%) from the field in the last five games and averaging just 6.8 points. He's still shooting 62% from the field on the season, but prior to this `slump' he was shooting 63.9%. Against Davidson, he made 4-of-6 field goals, his best shooting day since a home win over Kansas State nine games ago. He had nine points and added seven rebounds (three offensive), three assist, a steal, a block and just one foul in 23 minutes.
Darrell Arthur: The 6-9 sophomore forward is the second-leading scorer for Kansas, averaging 12.7 points per game. He leads the team in blocks (49) and in offensive rebounds (87), ranking second in rebounding (6.1) and shooting 54.3% from the field. He also ranks second on the team in charges drawn (7). In the NCAA Tournament, Arthur is averaging 10 points and 5 rebounds, shooting 66.7% from the field. Arthur's stretch of three games under double figures is his longest such streak of the season. He has at least one offensive rebound in 11 straight games. Arthur has at least one block in 28 of 38 games this season.
As Jackson has struggled coming into the postseason with shooting a bit, Arthur started to come on about that time in terms of consistently high shooting percentages. Since the Big 12 Title game, he has shot 24-of-36 (66.7%) from the floor. Arthur has averaged 4.3 fouls per game (including one disqualification) in Kansas' three losses compared to 2.9 in the 35 wins. He has averaged 2.8 fouls in the NCAA Tournament. He averages fewer minutes in the Jayhawks' losses (20.7) than in the 35 wins (24.6) because of his foul trouble limitations.
Quotables
"I would say daily. Surry (Wood) has definitely taken his beatings from me and Al (Alex Stepheson). He'll show you some bruises. Every once in awhile, he comes to practice and I'll be like, `Man, where did you get that bruise, Surry?' He'll be like, `That's from you, that elbow you gave me the other day.' It's Surry's job. He's there pushing us every day. He definitely doesn't hold anything back himself. He's always been good for us." -Tyler Hansbrough
"It's definitely important because you've got to have somebody to work on your moves against. You've got to know what you can and can't get away with. He's here every day taking a pounding. We give it to him every day. There are no off-days for him. ... I've given him so many bruises. You've got to ask him. I've given him over maybe 30 bruises this year alone." -Alex Stepheson
"To me, if I go out there and 37 people throw tomatoes at me, that will bother me a little bit. But I've been hit by a rotten grapefruit at Duke before and I knew they weren't throwing it at me. They were throwing it at Coach Smith. They were bad throwers. You can imagine - a rotten grapefruit. (It was) 1979, I mean, the score was seven to nothing at halftime. Why are they mad at me? I've handled anything if you can handle that." -Roy Williams
"He's the biggest kid. I go over the schedule with him last night. I say, `We've got to leave at 8:45. You've got the United States Basketball Writers Award at such-and-such. You've got the Associated Press Award at such-and-such. You'll get back here, we'll have about 20 minutes and you get to change. He said, `Coach, what about breakfast?'" -Roy Williams
"When we get together at the circle and I ask offense emphasis of the day, defensive (emphasis of the day), he's always reaching his hand in my pocket to see if I have any cash in my pocket or something that he can steal, that kind of thing. Every now and then, most of the time I don't have any money in my pocket but I had one time I went at the water break and got some because he hadn't tried to stick his hand in my pocket that day. I pulled it out because I had a $20 bill in there and it made him awfully mad." -Roy Williams on Ty Lawson's pranks
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
