OSU, Kansas ready to face off

Associated Press

LAWRENCE, Kan.

Bill Self rattles off the matchups that everyone wants to see: Jared Sullinger against Thomas Robinson, Aaron Craft toe-to-toe with Tyshawn Taylor, Travis Releford versus William Buford.

“I mean, there’s a lot of individual things going on,” Self said, before making something abundantly clear: “I look forward to seeing Kansas play Ohio State.”

The second-ranked Buckeyes visit Allen Fieldhouse today to face the No. 13 Jayhawks in a tasty non-conference treat. Two of the nation’s top programs, a handful of the best players and one of the premier venues in college basketball form the backdrop of a March-like matchup in mid-December.

“There are a lot of things about it,” Self said. “But when I look at matchups, I say, ‘How do you guard the post? How do you guard ball screens, more so than individuals going after each other?’

“But of course with Jared and Thomas, you have two of the premier players in America that will be guarding each other at least part of the time.”

That’s assuming Sullinger is healthy enough to play.

The preseason All-American has been hobbled by a bad back, and Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said he won’t know until Saturday whether the big guy will be available. Sullinger missed their 64-35 victory over Texas Pan-American last Saturday, but he’s practiced a bit this week.

“It’s amazing how much better he’s moving and all those things,” Matta said Wednesday. “We’ve got two more days to look at it but don’t know for sure what he’s going to do.”

Sullinger is averaging better than 19 points and 10 rebounds per game, and his shooting rate is about 62 percent. If he’s unable to go, the onus of slowing down Robinson will fall to junior Evan Ravenel, who is averaging just more than 5 points per game.