The time is set for a showdown that will have the atmosphere of a Final Four game. This will be the best game in the Sweet Sixteen, maybe the tournament. I have to admit, this is one game that I am not looking forward to. The Buckeyes present several problems for the Wildcats to overcome.
First, there is OSU's inside game. Jared Sullinger is an absolute beast under the basket averaging a double double on the season with 17.1 ppg to go along with 10 boards. He is just a big body, with a load of talent that will be hard to contain. Not sure who you put on Jared to try and stop him if it's Harrellson, he will have his work cut out for him. Harrellson, in my opinion is too slow to be able to keep up with Sullinger and that could lead to trouble. On the other hand if you put Terrence Jones on Sullinger, it could make for an interesting match-up and as long as Jones doesn't get into foul trouble it could be a good battle to watch.
Then there comes the Buckeyes outside game. They have some good guards that can shoot the ball as good or better than anyone in the country. Ohio ST. as a team shoots 42% from three on the season compared to 39% by Kentucky. Now it's not that big of a difference, but the Buckeyes have some guys that when they catch fire, can absolutely fill it up. David Lighty hit 7-7 from deep against George Mason on Sunday, and as a team they hit 16-26. That is just absolutely INSANE for a team to shoot that kind of percentage from three. David Lighty and William Buford both shoot over 43% from three, and Jon Diebler shoots a blistering 50% from deep. When you see 50%, you automatically think "he hasn't attempted that many threes this season". Well that couldn't be further from the truth as he has connected on 110 out of 220 attempts from deep. That kind of shooting really spreads a defense pretty thin, and prevents help defense in the post.
But the one thing Kentucky has going in their favor, is their defense. The Buckeyes haven't faced a defense like Kentucky plays all season. Kentucky plays great perimeter defense and it will be put to the test Friday night. The match-up I can't wait to see is DeAndre Liggins defending David Lighty. Liggins will cause him problems, and no doubt will try to get into his head. I just hope it works.
The Buckeyes play about 7 guys, the same as Kentucky. And top to bottom, you could make the argument that Kentucky is more talented with the one exception being Josh Harrellson VS Jared Sullinger. If Big Jorts was ever going to have another career game like the show he put on in Louisville, this would the game to do it. Because it will take Jorts playing his best game of the year and Terrence Jones returning to the player he was the first 10 games of the season where he just dominated people.
Now I'm not saying it's impossible for Kentucky to win, because they can. They just can't let the Bucks get a big first half lead and expect to fight back in the second half. And most importantly, they have got to avoid foul trouble. If the game is called like the first half of the WVU game that would spell disaster for the Cats. But on the other side, if we can get them into foul trouble that would be in favor of the Cats.
It should be a battle on Friday, and should be fun to watch Coach Cal go head to head with Thad Matta (aka Gargamel).
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