#2 Kansas Jayhawks vs #2 Ohio St. Buckeyes in the Final Four in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Superdome:
First Half Score: #2 Ohio St. 34 - #2 Kansas 25
Aside from Thomas Robinson heating up for the Jayhawks towards the ladder stage of the first half, Kansas was simply unable to get anything going on the offensive end of the floor. Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Craft made things miserable for the Kansas guards with his tenacious pressure and quickness. Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson were a combined 3 of 10 from the field and they also coughed up the ball up 5 times. The Jayhawks, like they have in every game this tournament aside from the Midwest Regional Final against North Carolina, severely struggled to score, especially when Thomas Robinson was being harassed inside and not getting the ball in a position to score. Kansas will need a huge half out of Thomas Robinson and for Travis Releford, Elijah Johnson, and Tyshawn Taylor to hit some jump shots if they want to get things going offensively.
As always, Jared Sullinger has come to play, as the big man has 7 points and 5 rebounds but a great sign for the Buckeyes is how well William Buford is playing. Buford, who has severely struggled shooting the ball in the tournament as he is a combined 13 for 44 including 7 for 21 from three in four tourney games, has been great in the first half. Buford was 3 for 3 from the field including 2 for 2 from three and had 8 points. Ohio St., as a team, has shot terrific from behind the arc, as they have made 5 of their 9 three point attempts.
Final Score: #2 Kansas 64 - #2 Ohio St. 62
From the beginning of the second half, the Jayhawks looked like a completely different team offensively. They came out firing on all cylinders, as they were able to establish Thomas Robinson in the post and get Elijah Johnson to hit some jump shots. Thomas Robinson was unbelievable in the paint and scored 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting. He was very aggressive and was able to get to the free throw line 6 times in the second frame.
Just as big as Kansas's ability to finally found some offense was the ineffectiveness of Ohio St. on that side of the ball. The Buckeyes struggled to find a scorer when Deshaun Thomas was on the bench due to foul trouble. Thomas had just 2 points in the entire second half and was only able to play limited minutes. Although William Buford once again put together a solid half as he added 11 points, Jared Sullinger really struggled to score. Jeff Withey's length really caused Sullinger a lot of problems, as the big man was 2 for 11 from the field in the second frame and Withey had 7 blocks.
Kansas was also able to overcome 17 turnovers including a costly one by Tyshawn Taylor with 3 seconds remaining. However, the Jayhawks would not allow the Buckeyes to get a three point attempt off in the final seconds, as Memphis allowed them to do in the 2008 NCAA title game.
Kansas will make their 9th NCAA title game appearance and they will be in their 3rd championship game in the last 9 years since 2003 including their 2nd in the last 4 years. Kansas now has a 9-5 record in the National Semifinals.
Kansas will be looking for their 4th NCAA championship in program history and their second since they beat Memphis four years ago in 2008 and that coaching match-up, like this one, will be Bill Self against John Calipari.
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