Other Sweet 16 recruiting flashbacks: Miami-Villanova | Oklahoma-Texas A&M | Duke-Oregon | Iowa State-Virginia | Wisconsin-Notre Dame | Gonzaga-Syracuse | Indiana-North Carolina
THE MATCHUP
Storylines will be easy to find in the South Region when No. 5 Maryland and No. 1 Kansas tip off around 9:40 PM ET Thursday from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon is a Kansas graduate who played on the Jayhawks' 1986 Final Four team. The Jayhawks, who have won 12 straight Big 12 conference titles, are looking to erase the label of postseason underachievers after some earlier-than-expected tournament exits since their last Final Four in 2012.
Turgeon is 0-6 in previous games against his alma mater but this will be his first against the Jayhawks as the Maryland head coach.
THE KEYS
Make no mistake, the point guard battle between Maryland sophomore Romelo Trimble and Kansas junior Frank Mason is going to be important. But, this is one of the few Sweet 16 games that should feature some legitimate low post battling.
Assuming he draws senior Perry Ellis defensively, can Robert Carter defend the Jayhawks' versatile big man when he goes out and faces from the perimeter? Landen Lucas isn’t a huge scorer, but can his size help to neutralize the Terps' likely first-round draft pick in training, Diamond Stone?
HOW THEY WERE BUILT
Eric Bossi on Kansas: There is a really interesting dynamic at Kansas. Many expected that both of its leading scorers in junior guard Wayne Selden and Ellis to be gone for the NBA by now. On top of that, Mason and sophomore Devonte Graham were originally ticketed for Towson and Appalachian State before developing into four-star prospects at prep schools. Bill Self has managed to build a cohesive, veteran unit and hasn’t succumbed to any of the early calls from his fanbase and many analysts to play five-star freshmen bigs Carlton Bragg and Cheick Diallo more.
Bossi on Maryland: Building Maryland has been a steady process for Turgeon and his staff but there’s little doubt that landing a local star like Trimble to play the point helped to jump start things. Like many others, the Terps have done a nice job playing the transfer game landing Carter from Georgia Tech and shooting guard Rasheed Sulaimon from Duke. They’ve been able to identify and land versatile players with size like senior forward Jake Layman. Pulling one of 2015’s elite prospects, Stone, out of Wisconsin was a coup and the Terrapins have built a team with great positional size across the board.
