The Final Four in the 2012 NCAA Tournament takes place Saturday in New Orleans featuring two pairs of evenly matched teams squaring off for the right to compete in the national championship game. In a battle of No. 2 seeds, the Ohio St. Buckeyes will face the Kansas Jayhawks in the first NCAA Tournament meeting between the two teams.
Final Four 2012 Predictions: How Does Kansas Match Up Against Ohio State?
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Rob Dauster at SI.com offers a full position-by-position breakdown of how well the two teams stack up against one another. Here’s how he views the point guard situation of the two teams.
Point Guard
Without a hint of exaggeration, this may be the most intriguing individual matchup of the entire Final Four. Ohio State's Aaron Craft is arguably the best on-ball defender in the country. He doesn't give ball-handlers an inch of space and forces enough turnovers that SI.com's Luke Winn created a stat just to track them. Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor, on the other hand, has become notorious for the turnovers he commits and the bad shots that he takes. And while Bill Self would surely have less gray hair if Taylor had managed to eliminate that aspect of his game, there is no denying just how much the senior point guard means to the Jayhawks. He had 22 points, six boards, five assists and five steals against North Carolina. I've maintained all season long that Taylor is the most important player for Kansas, and if Craft can limit his production, that becomes a difference maker for the Buckeyes.
Edge: Even
The entire article is thorough and illuminating and well worth the click-through, so check it out for yourself.
For all news and information regarding the Ohio State Buckeyes, please visit Along the Olentangy. For updates and perspective on the Kansas Jayhawks, head on over to Rock Chalk Talk. For complete coverage of the 2012 NCAA Tournament, stop by SB Nation’s dedicated tournament hub.
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