Games in East Lansing and on Tobacco Road highlight the weekend
-
Getty Images
Bill Self and Tom Izzo have both won national titles this decade. Their teams will square off Saturday.
Must-See Game
By Jay Bilas, ESPN
Kansas at No. 12 Michigan State, Saturday, 1 p.m. ETOutlook: Kansas (11-3) is just a couple of possessions from being a highly ranked team at 13-1. KU was ahead of Arizona by nine in the second half, but the Wildcats ran away from the young Jayhawks for an easy win. Kansas lost in overtime to Syracuse and by a single possession to UMass.
The defending national champion played through five guys last season, and the go-to guy was the open man. This year, Kansas plays through two guys, Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, and coach Bill Self is looking for more consistency from the supporting cast.
The bedrock staple for the Jayhawks is defense. Kansas still guards you and makes you take challenged shots. The "first shot" defense of the Jayhawks is very good, but they need to hold opponents to one shot. On the offensive end, Kansas runs a ball-screen offense that depends upon ball reversal. The big men set a lot of run-out ball screens with slip-and-roll action, which is very difficult to guard. When the Jayhawks get good movement of the ball from side to side, they are very efficient offensively.
Michigan State is finally healthy. With Goran Suton out early in the season (missing the entire Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla.), Michigan State looked rather ordinary. With Suton back in the lineup, the Spartans are developing into a special team, and the best team in the Big Ten.
MSU is very athletic and fast on the wings, and it has some emerging young stars in Raymar Morgan, Kalin Lucas and Chris Allen. Michigan State is a good transition team, a good shooting team, a solid defensive team and a very good offensive rebounding team that is getting better and better. The Spartans are difficult to prepare for because they run a lot of multiple-option set plays -- and run them very well.
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
Star-in-the-making Kalin Lucas of MSU will be matched with KU's Sherron Collins on Saturday.
Collins is the heart and soul of the Kansas team, and he has to be aggressive and attacking for the Jayhawks to be a really good team. Collins is quick and strong, and he is impossible to stay in front of when he is in attack mode. Lucas, meanwhile, is blossoming into a star. Izzo has never had a quicker or faster guard, and he has had some good ones. Lucas is starting to put it all together. With his speed and quickness, he has a legitimate shot to stay in front of Collins and make him take challenged shots. Morgan (15.2 ppg) is Michigan State's top scorer, but Lucas (13.3 ppg) needs to manage the game and make good decisions.
Key Stat: Rebounding and Free Throws
Kansas does a really good job of drawing fouls and getting to the line, and Michigan State is not a great free throw shooting team (65.7 percent). To win on the road, Kansas will have to win the free throw battle. On the glass, Michigan State should have the advantage. The Spartans often will send four guys to the offensive glass and race you back the other way. Kansas will have to have all five guys go after the ball, and do so with both hands, to limit MSU to one opportunity per possession.
Plays to Watch: Keep an eye on Kansas and how it uses ball screens, slips and rolls. If KU is executing well, the Jayhawks will get some lob dunks and weakside duck-ins for easy baskets. If Michigan State can keep Kansas from reversing the ball and playing from side to side, the Spartans will win.
X Factors: Tyshawn Taylor and Chris Allen
Taylor has the chance to be a special player at Kansas. He is fast in transition and is a good passer and defender. If Taylor can be the third scorer to complement Collins and Aldrich, Kansas has a good shot to win. Michigan State's Allen is an outstanding shooter who might have a big game. He is a streaky player, but when he knocks down shots and gains confidence, he can put up numbers and stretch a defense. Michigan State has a lot of weapons with Morgan, Lucas, Suton and Allen.
Who Wins: Michigan State
The Spartans are more experienced and perhaps a bit tougher than the young Jayhawks. Both coaches have built their programs on toughness first, and the coaches know each other well after competing against each other in the Big Ten. Self is aware of how tough the Breslin Center is, but his players are not … at least not yet.
Tobacco Road Tussle
By Greg Dohmann, ESPN Research
| TOP-5 UNC TEAMS VS TOP-5 ACC OPPONENTS | |
| Opponent | W-L |
| vs. Georgia Tech | 2-0 |
| vs. Maryland | 4-1 |
| vs. Virginia | 3-1 |
| vs. Duke | 6-5 |
| vs. NC State | 1-3 |
| vs. Wake Forest | 0-1 |
Joel Auerbach/US Presswire
Ty Lawson and the Tar Heels are looking to win their fifth straight against the Demon Deacons.
Five Other Things To Know
• North Carolina has won two straight games in Winston-Salem. The Tar Heels haven't won three straight at Wake Forest since winning four in row 1989-92.
• The Heels' current four-game win streak versus Wake is one of six such streaks the Tar Heels possess against ACC opponents. Nine-game win streaks against Clemson and Florida State are their only longer ones.
• UNC has won 15 straight on the road, the longest road winning streak for the team since the ACC formed in 1953-54.
• Tyler Hansbrough has scored in double figures in 51 straight games, the third-longest streak in school history (Larry Miller, 64; Charles Scott, 52). Hansbrough also has scored 20 or more points in nine straight games.
• The red-hot Demon Deacons can tie for the second-best start in school history with a victory.
| BEST STARTS IN WAKE HISTORY | |
| Season | Start |
| 1926-27 | 15-0 |
| 1980-81 | 14-0 |
| 2008-09 | 13-0 |
| 1996-97 | 13-0 |
Viewer's Guide
(All times ET)
Saturday:
10 a.m.: "College GameDay" (ESPN2)
Noon: No. 21 Louisville at No. 17 Villanova (ESPN)
Noon: No. 22 WVU at No. 15 Marquette (ESPN360)
1 p.m.: Kansas at No. 12 Michigan St. (CBS)
2 p.m.: No. 2 Duke at Florida St. (ESPN)
Midnight: "Midnight Madness" (ESPN2)
Sunday:
1:30 p.m.: Wisconsin at No. 14 Purdue (CBS)
8 p.m.: No. 3 UNC at No. 4 Wake Forest (FSN)
10:30 p.m.: No. 7 UCLA at USC (FSN)
Player To Watch
What's that line about big-time players in big-time games? This is Teague's chance to live it.
Teague
It's rare that a sophomore is labeled a leader, but on a team loaded with kids, Teague carries the mantle. He is the Demon Deacons' best player and most reliable scorer. More important in a game like this, No. 3 Carolina versus No. 4 Wake Forest on Sunday night, he's the ideal go-to guy for a big game. Against BYU at the Marriott Center, a place where visiting teams go to die, Teague had 30 points to help Wake end the Cougars' 53-game home win streak.
Teague is averaging 19.6 points per game and is shooting a blistering 51 percent from beyond the arc. Good or bad, he'll be a factor.
-- Dana O'Neil, ESPN.com
Howievision: Can't wait for No. 3 vs No. 4
Key Games This Weekend
Saturday
• No. 22 West Virginia at No. 15 Marquette, Noon, ESPN360/ESPN Full Court
In the crowded Big East, there's a whole group of teams clumped together that could finish anywhere from fourth to ninth. Here are two of them. The Mountaineers are slowly becoming a typical Bob Huggins team. In other words, the kind you don't want to play late in the season.
Still not entirely healthy -- Joe Mazzulla is not back from a shoulder injury -- West Virginia is certainly on the mend. Cam Thoroughman's balky knee is right, Alex Ruoff is over his back woes, and suddenly the Mountaineers are a player again; they gave Connecticut a game Jim Calhoun termed his team's toughest of the season.
Marquette also appears to be coming into its own. Its trio of talented guards -- Dominic James, Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal -- was too much for Villanova's equally vaunted backcourt. The Golden Eagles have won six in a row and are 3-0 in the Big East for the first time since joining the league in 2005.
• Kansas at No. 12 Michigan State, 1 p.m.Drubbed by North Carolina a month ago, the Spartans are climbing back. Goran Suton is healthy and Delvon Roe is healthier (though still not nearly 100 percent), and that means Michigan State is better. Coach Tom Izzo's crew has won eight in a row to re-emerge as the class of a surprisingly improved Big Ten. Kansas is still finding its way, following up a strong win against Tennessee with a struggle against Siena.
Intriguing matchup between Kalin Lucas and Sherron Collins, with both streaking into the game. Lucas had 17 points and nine assists against Northwestern, followed by 20 points against Ohio State. Collins had 18 points and four assists against the Vols, then 26 and nine against Siena.
• Miami at No. 24 BC, 7 p.m., ESPNUBeat North Carolina, lose to Harvard. There are letdowns after upset wins, and then there is BC. The Eagles redefined the word Wednesday night, handing the Crimson their first win over a ranked opponent.
So instead of using the Hurricanes game to prove that it, not Miami, is the upstart in the ACC, Boston College is using Miami to prove it's not a complete phony. The Eagles had everything going in the right direction, getting contributions from four guys while following the shooting star that is Tyrese Rice. That hasn't gone out the window, but BC also is on a dangerous precipice right now. The Eagles can ill afford to undo all the good they've done.
Miami won't make it easy. The Canes need this game every bit as much. After getting thumped in the league opener by Clemson, this team also has to prove its legitimacy. Miami is getting steadier contribution from Dwayne Collins, alleviating some of the heat on Jack McClinton, but it can't survive as a two-man team.
Sunday
• No. 3 UNC at No. 4 Wake Forest, 8 p.m.
So Carolina lost at home to BC and Wake won at BYU (where nobody wins), yet the Tar Heels stayed ahead of the Demon Deacons in the polls. Doesn't seem to make sense, but Wake Forest has a chance to reconfigure the order here.
One of the few teams that can match Carolina for speed and point production, the young Deacons rank fifth nationally in scoring offense to the Heels' second. Here's the twist: Wake Forest ranks seventh in field goal percentage defense.
After their bizarre showing against Boston College, it will be interesting to see how the Heels react if their shots don't fall. Against the Eagles, UNC dug itself too deep a hole and fell apart trying to climb out. The Heels made bad decisions down the stretch, jacking up 3-pointers when they didn't need them and playing without composure, a strange sight for such a talented and veteran team.
Carolina has beaten Wake four consecutive times (winning by an average of 23 points) and hasn't started 0-2 in the ACC since the 1996-97 season.
• No. 7 UCLA at USC, 10:30 p.m.It's hard to imagine UCLA could ever be overlooked or forgotten, but while everyone has been preoccupied with the ACC and Big East, the Bruins have quietly won eight in a row to improve to 12-2.
The Trojans, meanwhile, have been a disappointment all season, losing early to Seton Hall and late to Oregon State. But what USC does have is a decent frontcourt, and that could pose some problems for the Bruins. Taj Gibson is always solid, and DeMar DeRozan is improving. UCLA needs Alfred Aboya to hold serve and the far-better backcourt of Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday to take over.
-- Dana O'Neil, ESPN.com