MSU Preview

Before we begin, the Kevin Young saga has apparently come to an end. Always nice to win a commit from the Huskers, especially twice.

On to the big match-up between KU-MSU at the Breslin Center. *esteemed cohort hiphopotamus will be in attendance....who will later be seen at Omar's Show Bar telling the strippers "Sherron's coming back!!!!"

Quick Keys to the Game:

• How we respond to their toughness. It is our biggest concern given our oft flakey rebounding and at times softer than Self wants defense. Michigan State holds a slight advantage in rebounds per game(#28 over KU at #30), but given the quality of opponents, MSU has the edge.
• Aligning the stars. Sherron and Cole need to be in beast mode for 40 minutes. Is Sherron involving everyone and creating shots not only for himself? How does Cole bang with Suton/Roe/Morgan? Can he stay out of foul trouble and be a force over both halfs?
• Offense in motion. If KU is moving the ball well and letting the offense get into rhythm they can be unstoppable. Yet, the biggest weakness so far this year with the offense is our lulls when we find ourselves incapable of moving without the ball. Can we stay focused for 40 minutes for the first time this year and move sans ball while continuing to keep Cole involved and not forcing Sherron to do too much? Tyshawn will be the key factor, outside of Sherron, to keep the offense less stagnant.
• Raymar Morgan on lock down. Who do we have to shut down Raymar? Maybe the better question is how many fouls do we have to throw at him. Our forwards are not uber polished in the defensive arts, given their youth, but are quite athletic and we do have about 20 fouls from Morris-squared/Little/Thomas.

As will be the case all year, KU can win this game. A win will solidify our thoughts about the improvement and talent of this team. Michigan State is the solid front-runner for the Big 10 and will be a top 3 seeded team come March, so obviously a win will be a huge bonus heading into Big 12 play. What does a loss mean? Well it depends on how we lose and how we compete. A blowout would be an immense development crisis to this squad, while a close loss really wouldn't be all that bad. Going into the Breslin Center and competing with our youth would be a outcome that Self could build on towards the future.

Of course we are not conceding a loss and in true homer fashion, I fully believe KU will be in this until the end. Though we have not proven we can win on the road, I feel this is the breakout. Rock Chalk and pray like Tim Tebow for the Hawks.

KU 78 - MSU 73