Michigan Basketball: Breaking down the rest of the Final Four

Kansas

If Michigan beats Loyola-Chicago, its next opponent will be one of the top-ranked seeds left in the tournament. Both present challenges, but Kansas looks to be a more manageable win looking at the future.

Kansas is ranked as the No. 8 team in the country by both Ken Pomeroy and Bart Torvik’s metrics. That’s just behind Michigan. Kansas boasts a top 5 offense, while their defense is somewhere in the 30-40 range.

Kansas has three starters (Devonte’ Graham, Sviatoslav Mykhailuk, Malik Newman) who are shooting higher than 40 percent from three this season. Graham has struggled with his shot a bit this tournament, but Lagerald Vick has picked up the slack with 47.6 percent shooting from deep in four games.

Newman is having a particularly great tournament and is coming off a 32 point performance against Duke in the Elite Eight. He’s also rebounding well and is good for an assist or two per game.

Kansas shoots a lot from deep because of this hot shooting, as one would expect. The only starter that can’t throw fire from deep is 7 foot center Udoka Azubuike. Azubuike is a monster who is shooting 77.2 percent from the field this season. Naturally he’s also a gifted rebounder and shot blocker. He is also incredibly foul prone, so he only plays about 20 minutes per game.

Kansas’ defense isn’t bad, but it isn’t the bread and butter from the team. The Jayhawks just want to overwhelm teams from deep and feed the beast that is Azubuike inside. They don’t get to the line often, but most of the team shoots well from the stripe (Newman alone is 20-22 in the tournament).

Once again, Michigan is going to have to rely on superior defense if it wants to beat Kansas. The Wolverines will also have to shoot more like they did against Texas A&M, because a Florida State-like offensive performance will lead to a blowout.