NCAA Tournament Preview: Experience must pay off for Michigan State against Kansas

Time and TV: Fri., March 27, 9:37 p.m. ET*, CBS
* = Approximate time. Game starts 30 minutes after the end of the Arizona-Louisville game.

Michigan State and Kansas have already locked horns in 2009, so when the two teams reunite for Friday's Midwest Regional semifinal inside a football stadium, no secrets will exist. If Tom Izzo's Spartans are going to continue their march to Detroit, they're simply going to have to beat the Jayhawks a second time, with the same formula they used a few months ago.
 
On Jan. 10 in East Lansing, MSU handed Bill Self's bunch a decisive 75-62 beatdown. Using home-court advantage and pressure defense to rattle a very young KU roster, the Spartans roared to a 37-18 lead and never looked back. Michigan State got to the foul line 35 times and used its combination of muscle and savvy to outwork and outfox the Jayhawks near the basket. Kalin Lucas earned 10 free-throw attempts and Raymar Morgan 11 for the Spartans, who also out rebounded KU by a 39-28 margin. As the third-seeded Jayhawks look for revenge against their second-seeded opponent in Indianapolis's Lucas Oil Stadium, the battle lines are clearly drawn: It's up to Kansas to change the equation, while Michigan State merely needs to replicate its January performance.

At halftime of Friday's throwdown, it could well be that Izzo will need to make some important adjustments, but in the first 20 minutes of this contest, it's the Jayhawks who must shift the psychology and find a formula that can crack the Big Ten champions. In the January meeting, KU's dynamic duo of guard Sherron Collins (25 points, 8 assists) and center Cole Aldrich (14 points, 11 rebounds) were the only players who competed with distinction. The Jayhawks who have matured considerably in the following two months, particularly guard Tyshawn Taylor (a 10-point-per-game scorer), did not show up in the Breslin Center. Taylor scored just 2 points on only 3 shot attempts in 18 very ineffective minutes. The Spartans punched Kansas in the mouth with their intensity and grit, and so it's up to the lads from Lawrence to flip the script in the home of the Indianapolis Colts.
 
Michigan State's number one mission, coming off the too-close-for-comfort win against Southern California on Sunday, is to bring the lunch pail to work. The Spartans were staggered by USC's ability to relentlessly--and successfully--attack the rim. Travis Walton will need to shoot less and defend more against Kansas, and Morgan--who was superb against the Jayhawks the last time around--needs to display the same level of energy on Friday. Morgan appeared to be all the way back from his midseason health issues when he led the Spartans to a crucial late-season win at Illinois on March 1. In this joust with the Jayhawks, Raymar must roar with life if the Izzone are to feel confident about their chances.

It's a repeat act, and while the underdog has the burden of getting things right, the favorite must guard against a sense of overconfidence. Michigan State wants to reach the Final Four in the worst way this season; in order for the dream to live another day, Sparty needs to rediscover the toughness that has made this program so formidable over the past 11 seasons.

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