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Posted: Friday April 04, 2003 10:11 AM
SI.com’s Mark Button breaks down each national semifinal.
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Kansas (28-7) vs. Marquette (27-5)
Saturday, April 5, 6:07 p.m. EST (CBS)
New Orleans Superdome (54,500)
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Dish out equal blame to Kansas and Marquette for ruining the Arizona-Kentucky matchup everyone wanted to see. Instead, Roy Williams and Kansas return to the Final Four for the second straight year after surviving Duke and Arizona in the West Region, regarded as the tournament's toughest. Not that Marquette's road to its first Final Four appearance since Al McGuire's team won the national championship in 1977 was much easier. Tom Crean's club consecutively knocked off the top two seeds in the Midwest, Pittsburgh and Kentucky. This matchup might have ruined the majority of the nation's office pools, but it promises to deliver a dramatic contest between two of the nation's most offensively and defensively balanced teams.
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Dwyane Wade
AP |
Backcourts
One must start with Dwyane Wade, perhaps the most electrifying college player on the planet. All Wade did against Kentucky, the team everyone agreed had the best defense in the country, was record the third triple-double in NCAA tournament history during a dunk-fest that saw him repeatedly slice through UK en route to easy flushes (he made them look easy, anyway). Wade's tournament numbers suggest a typo somewhere, but they are real: 22.5 ppg., 6.8 rpg, 6.5 apg., 1.8 bpg, 91-percent FTs. Don't dare, however, call Marquette a one-man show. Freshman point guard Travis Diener has proved plenty lethal, scoring 55 points (including 10-of-17 from 3-point range) in Marquette's first- and second-round wins. A terrific ball-handler, Diener has racked up 23 assists to just four turnovers in the NCAAs -- a ratio of 5.75 assists for each turnover. Diener's opposition, Kansas PG Aaron Miles, has dished out 26 assists to 10 turnovers in the tourney (2.6-to-1 ratio). All eyes, of course, will be on Wade and Kansas guard Kirk Hinrich. Wade has been fantastic, but already in this tournament Hinrich (15.5 ppg., 4.0 rpg.) has shut down the likes of Duke's J.J. Redick and Arizona's Salim Stoudamire. Wade is definitely playing on a level higher than those two, so Hinrich will need -- and should get -- some defensive help, namely from defensive specialist Michael Lee.
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Nick Collison
AP |
Frontcourts
As incredible as Wade's play from the guard position has been for Marquette -- and it has been ridiculously good -- it's possible that Kansas' Nick Collison has been even better at his respective forward spot. With Hinrich and Lee locking up the Duke guards in the West Regional semifinal, Collison put the entire state of Kansas on his back offensively, willing the Jayhawks to victory with a 33-point, 19-rebound performance that can only be rivaled by Wade's triple-double against UK as the best individual effort in this tournament. Collison is averaging 20.3 ppg., 11.3 rpg., 3.5 apg. while shooting 64 percent from the floor. Teaming with Collison in the Kansas frontcourt is the oft-troubled Jeff Graves, who comes off of his best game inside a Kansas uniform. Graves strayed from foul trouble against Arizona to play 32 minutes and record 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting and 15 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. Keith Langford, often the X-Factor for Kansas, completes the Jayhawks' backcourt. Langford (16.8 ppg., 5.0 rpg.) is Kansas' best at penetrating defenses and creating his own shot and can create matchup problems. Marquette counters with Robert Jackson (13.0 ppg., 8.0 rpg., 53 percent FGs), Scott Merritt (11.0 ppg., 4.0 rpg.) and Todd Townsend (2.3 ppg., 2.5 rpg.). Jackson can be dominating -- check the UK game, when he went for 24 points and 15 boards -- but like Kansas' Graves, Jackson typically gets into foul trouble. Marquette's X-Factor comes off the bench in the form of 6-foot-9 freshman forward Steve Novak, who has drilled 16 of his 20 3-point attempts in the tournament. Kansas may use the long-armed Langford (6-4, 200 pounds) to bother Novak on the perimeter, and whichever player has the better performance likely will move on to the national championship game.
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| Both teams mirror the personality of their coaches: aggressive, unrelenting, stubborn. Crean, in his fourth year at Marquette, seems driven to win a title, but his experience pales in comparison to Williams': This is Crean's first trip to the Final Four; it's Williams' fourth and second in as many years, and Williams' .717 NCAA tournament winning percentage (33-13) is fifth highest among active coaches with at least 10 games coached. Many feel that the speculation that Williams will leave Kansas for North Carolina after the Final Four could be the distraction that prohibits him from winning his first title. Don't underestimate the clever Williams, however. Whether or not he takes the UNC job, Williams, by not flatly denying his interest in the position, has diverted the swarming media away from questioning his players about Marquette in favor of chasing the UNC story. If Kansas wins two games this weekend, Williams will look like a genius. Of course, if Kansas loses to Marquette, everyone will point to Williams' handling of the UNC speculation as the distraction the led to the Jayhawks' downfall.
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Kansas forward Nick Collison
Senior, 6-9, 250 pounds
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Marquette forward Robert Jackson
Senior, 6-10, 260 pounds
Both big men must stay out of foul trouble for their team to win. This creates a slight advantage for Kansas. Because Collison is more talented, Jackson will expend more energy -- thus increasing the chances for fouls -- trying to stop Collison than Collison will expend trying to stop Jackson. Jackson and his frontcourt mates did a fine job stopping Kentucky's big men, but Collison is far better than anyone Kentucky had to offer. Another key to this matchup will be whether Hinrich's jumper is falling. If Hinrich is on, he can bury shots from well beyond the college 3-point line, which will force the defense to stretch on the perimeter and create more room for Collison inside. |
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| Like Maryland last year, Kansas has the senior leadership necessary to win a title. In this, Marquette's first trip to the Final Four stage, no one should be surprised if the Golden Eagles rattle a little early on. Kansas, on the other hand, has no illusions about going home empty handed this time. Look for Hinrich and Lee to frustrate Wade, who may tire late after chasing Hinrich around all night. Kansas' perimeter defense, often suspect during the regular season, has improved in the tournament and there's no reason to think Langford and Miles won't keep Diener and Novak in check. The careers of Collison and Hinrich are destined for a storybook ending, not another one-and-done performance in the Final Four.
The pick: Kansas 79, Marquette 71
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 Click here for Mark Button's breakdown of Texas vs. Syracuse |
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