KU Faces Niagara in Round I

All of the emphasis that Bill Self puts on defense pays off today. Self has compared Niagara’s ability to score to Texas. The last game Kansas played was against Kevin Durrant and the Longhorns so that comparison should come in handy as KU prepares for their first match up in this years big dance. The key is to find someone in the KU rotation to match up against their center J.R. Duffey (6’ 7”, Sr, 32.4 min, 10.4 pts, 5.5 reb.) who can hit the three. If Darrel Arthur and Darnell Jackson can’t find Duffey on the perimeter and contest his shot, Niagara will find an advantage that they can exploit.

Don’t be surprised to see KU go small for long stretches this evening since Duffey is only 6’ 7”. Sasha Kaun might not get past the 10 minute mark of playing time due to his injury and the ability of the Niagara big men to hit the 3 point shot. The KU camp is emphasizing that all 5 starters for Niagara can shoot the ball from long range. Sasha is going to need to get out on his man to deny the trifecta if he’s going to see much playing time tonight. Sasha has been stiff all week from a bruised back he received in the Big XII championship game.

KU will be at their best against Niagara when Wright and Rush are guarding their best two players, Cliff Brown (6’ 7”, Sr, 33.8 min, 16.5 pts, 9.8 reb) and Charron Fisher (6’ 3”, Jr., 33.5 min, 20.7 pts, 8.1 reb). That’s a tough match up for Niagara on their offensive end and they can’t match us with stoppers when they defend the goal. Per usual, our small guards will need to pressure the ball to force Niagara out of their offensive sets. If the trio of Robinson, Chalmers and Collins can frustrate the ball handling of the Niagara guards, Niagara will go on several long droughts of scoring the ball. That’s when KU will need to have big spurts to get Niagara on the ropes and keep them there.

It will be interesting to see how much time Rod Stewart will log. Stewart has played a big chunk of his minutes this year at the 4 spot and is a valuable asset off the bench with the match up against Niagara. KU will need a smaller, quicker defensive unit to play the up tempo, spread out game that Niagara will want to play when they have the ball. Niagara likes to push the ball and they have already said that they don’t plan on slowing the game down. They will want to break us down on the dribble and find open shooters on the outside. Hopefully Rod Stewart will give KU some good minutes in the first half so that the starters energy levels will be high coming down the stretch.

The key for Niagara will be their ability to scramble back down court to set up their defense so that KU can’t ring up big numbers in the paint. Darrel Arthur and Darnell Jackson are great scores in the paint. Sasha Kaun likes to feast on smaller, under sized front courts. Niagara is going to need to limit their touches in close and it doesn’t seem like they have the size or the defensive interest to sustain that.

After his 2-28 team lost to the Purple Eagles by an 81-80 count in late January, Iona coach Jeff Ruland remarked that Niagara’s goal on defense was not to break a sweat. The Blue Ribbon report comments, “it’s dangerous to try to fly with these Eagles and outscore them, so the key is to get back on defense and shut their potent offense down.”

If Niagara doesn’t exert energy defending on the ball, you’ve got to like our guards ability to get into the paint to either score or dish to our bigs. Sherron Collins must get to the paint regularly and if Rush is being aggressive and draining the mid range jumper, KU should be able to hang with Niagara even if they are hitting their three’s in bunches.

I haven’t seen any mention of Niagara playing any kind of zone however it seems like the best strategy for them against the top seed KU. Wrights ability to pass and Collins ability to break a zone down on the dribble are the two strongest assets KU has when the outside shot isn’t falling. If they play a zone or not, Niagara will need to pack it in close to the goal, get plenty of defensive rebounds and hope that the KU guards have a cold shooting night.

With KU as one of the best defensive minded teams in the country, you can be sure that their focus will be getting plenty of pressure on the ball, getting between their man and the goal, and contesting the long range jump shot. If Niagara struggles to find their touch against our top ranked defense, KU gets plenty of transition buckets and are able to attack the rim freely, it should be a romp for the Jayhawks in Chicago.