Preview: 2 Kansas vs. 7 Wichita State

#2 – Kansas

The Jayhawks, along with the Oklahoma Sooners, showed that the Big 12 still has a little bit of life in them after a horrific first day for the conference that many referred to as the best in the conference. They easily dispatched the New Mexico State Aggies, 75-56. The Jayhawks had 10 different players score and shot a blistering 69 percent from beyond the arc. They’re going to win a lot of ball games that way, but it’s starting to look like no matter how long they survive and advance they’re going to be without freshman big man Cliff Alexander. He didn’t even make the trip as his eligibility has come into question and is being investigated by the NCAA. Even without him, the Jayhawks managed to be +7 on the glass. Frank Mason III missed just twice, once from the field and once from the free throw line as he scored a game-high 17 points. He also led the team in rebounds (nine), assists (four) and steals (two). Up next for the Jayhawks is the Wichita State. It’s going to be important for them to stay out of foul trouble and not allow the Shocker sot get to the free throw line 34 times, where they converted 29, as they did in their win against the Indiana Hoosiers. If they can’t contain Fred VanVleet and Rob Baker, who were a combined 19-20 from the free throw line, they’ll fail to survive the opening weekend for the second-straight year.

– Yannis Koutroupis

#7 – Wichita State

Winning ugly is still winning and doing it early in the NCAA tournament can sometimes get the nerves out and aide in steadying the shop for a deep run. That is just what Greg Marshall is hoping as his Wichita State squad survived a tough push from the Indiana Hoosiers. Nobody would have expected the Shockers to go 2-13 from the three-point line and still come away with a win against a middle of the pack power conference school that was tried and test throughout conference play. The good news is they did win and now they can look forward to the in-state match up everybody had been waiting to see. Ron Baker will need to do better than 0-5 from down town and someone besides Fred VanVleet (27 points) is going to have to step up to the plate. Frank Mason III and Wayne Selden can defend, Kelly Oubre has come into his own and even without Cliff Alexander, beating the Kansas Jayhawks remains a tall task. It will most certainly take a near perfect game and some sweet shooting from the perimeter to crash Bill Self’s sweet sixteen plans.

– Cody Toppert

Who Wins?

Yannis Koutroupis: Kansas wins

Cody Toppert: Kansas wins

Dan Barto: Kansas wins

Dan Barto has been with the IMG Academy basketball program since 2003. Prior to becoming the Head Skills Trainer, Barto was the IMG Academy basketball program’s Developmental Head Coach. Dan has trained over 100 current or former NBA players and coached over 40 Division I players. You can follow IMG on Twitter @IMGAcademy or on Facebook here.

Cody Toppert is a former standout player at Cornell University (one of the top three-point shooters in Ivy League history), who played eight years professionally (NBA D-League, Spain, Italy, Germany) and now serves as the Director of Basketball Development at ELEV|8 Sports Institute (Ganon Baker Basketball Academy). He trains professional players (five 2015 NBA Draftees) and coaches prep schoolers for Ganon Baker’s nationally ranked prep school program. Toppert also serves as a contributing writer for FastModel Sports. You can follow Cody and ELEV|8 on social media @Topp33 and @E8hoops.