Ohio State had their hands full against a tough Syracuse team in the Elite Eight, but a Syracuse team that was missing one of its best players in Fab Melo. They will be meeting a full tilt Kansas Jayhawks team in the Final Four, a team that has plenty of talent all over the court that the Buckeyes will have to handle including a forward/guard duo that has been lighting the tournament aflame.
Thomas Robinson in particular is going to be the man to watch for Kansas, as he has been all year. The Junior forward really came into his own in 2012, leading the Jayhawks with a double-double of averages; 17.9 points per game and 11.8 rebounds per game.
Doug Gottlieb of ESPN ranked Robinson the second best player in the Final Four, as he was brilliant during the regular season and showed why he was worth the hype so far during the tournament. Robinson scored 18 points in the past two Jayhawk wins and has hauled in nine or more rebounds every game as well. Even then, he hasn't been in his top form the entire tournament, getting double double numbers on subpar shooting games by his standards in the win over Purdue (11 points, seven of which came from free throws) and the win over North Carolina (18 points on only 6-16 shooting).
Tyshawn Taylor provides the Jayhawks with another 20 point scoring threat, and he has picked up the slack on Robinson's lesser performance days. The guard was the star of Kansas' Elite Eight win over the Tarheels with 22 points. Between Taylor and Robinson, the Jayhawks have two proven scoring threats, plus a great cast of players behind them including rebound specialist Jeff Withey.
The Buckeyes certainly have their own great impact players like Jared Sullinger, but they'll need big performances from all over the court to counter the Jayhawks' big two of Robinson and Taylor. Of course, judging by how this tournament has gone, even a subpar performance from those two could mean big numbers for Kansas.
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