Ohio State (31-7) vs. Kansas (31-6)
Time: 8:49 p.m.
Seeds: Ohio State, No. 2 in East; Kansas, No. 2 in Midwest
Coaches: Thad Matta (221-64 in eight seasons at Ohio State; 323-95 overall) vs. Bill Self (268-52 in nine seasons at Kansas, 475-157 overall)
History: Ohio State's 11th Final Four (NCAA title in 1960); Kansas' 14th Final Four (NCAA titles in 1952, 1988, 2008).
Previous meeting: Kansas 78, Ohio State 67 in Lawrence, Kan., on Dec. 10
How they got here: Ohio State — defeated No. 15-seed Loyola (Md.) 78-59, No. 7-seed Gonzaga 73-66, No. 6-seed Cincinnati 81-66, No. 1-seed Syracuse 77-70. Kansas — defeated No. 15-seed Detroit 65-50, No. 10-seed Purdue 63-60, No. 11-seed N.C. State 60-57, No. 1-seed North Carolina 80-67.
Who's hot: Ohio State forward Deshaun Thomas has averaged 21.8 points and 8.5 rebounds in the NCAA tournament. Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor is coming off his best game of the tournament with 22 points against North Carolina.
Players to watch: (backcourt) Ohio State guard Aaron Craft (23 assists, 13 steals in four tourney games), Kansas guard Elijah Johnson (has averaged 13.5 points in tourney, shooting 51 percent); (frontcourt) Ohio State center Jared Sullinger (18.0 points, 8.5 rebounds in tourney), Kansas center Thomas Robinson (eight double-doubles in past 10 games); (X-factor) Ohio State guard William Buford (shooting only 17-for-56, 30.4 percent for tourney), Kansas center Jeff Withey (school-record 10 blocks vs. N.C. State).
Storylines: Ohio State lost to Kansas in December, but that was without Sullinger (back spasms). This game matches two All-American post players in Sullinger and Robinson. Kansas leads the series 6-3 and has won the past four meetings. Matta and Ohio State hope to return to the championship game for the first time since Greg Oden and company lost to Florida in 2007 at the Georgia Dome.
CBS analyst Clark Kellogg’s breakdown
On Ohio State: "They had a period there where they got away from the unselfishness, the extra pass, helping each other on defense, attention to detail. They've really regrouped and put those things in the proper place. Jared Sullinger is the hub of it all, in the middle, a big guy that can score, draw fouls and is a willing passer. Then you've got Deshaun Thomas, who's been as good as anybody in the tournament."
On Kansas: "When Kansas is at its best is when Tyshawn Taylor is playing at a high level, which he has done for most of the season since conference play started. He had that little hiccup in the first couple tournament games until Sunday. But when he and Elijah [Johnson] are playing well and both can get to the basket, both are capable shooters and good defenders. When they're playing well, then it just makes Kansas hard to deal with."
By the numbers
12 Consecutive 20-win seasons that Matta has coached, second-most to start a career among active coaches, behind Gonzaga's Mark Few's 13.
3 Number of Final Fours in the Superdome for Kansas. Previously the Jayhawks defeated Marquette in 2003 (before losing to Syracuse in the title game) and losing to North Carolina in 1993.
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