Your Source for Service Plays and FREE sports Picks

Sweet 16 | Jayhawks vs Terrapins

Product Details

Sweet 16 | Jayhawks vs Terrapins

By Don Phillips

 

NCAA Championship Sweet Sixteen

Kansas Jayhawks vs. Maryland Terrapins

 

9:40 PM ET, Thursday, March 24, 2016

KFC Yum! Center (22,090), Louisville, Kentucky

 

The Sweet Sixteen is here! This marks the seventh-straight season that the Jayhawks have earned a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. In head coach Bill Self’s 13 seasons in Lawrence, KU has never been seeded lower than fourth. Since seeding began in 1979, Kansas has been a No. 1 12 times, including six times under Self (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2016).

KU, which is ranked No. 1 in the latest Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls, has won 12-straight, 16 Big 12 and an NCAA best 59 regular-season conference championships, including the 2016 title. KU also won the 2016 Big 12 Postseason Championship, its 14th all-time and 10th Big 12.

Kansas averages 82.0 points per game and has a Big 12 leading +14.1 scoring margin and 39.7 field goal percentage defense. KU is second in the conference with a 49.6 field goal percentage and 32.8 3-point field goal percentage defense.

KU pulls down an average of 38.0 rebounds per game and has a +5.3 rebound margin. The Jayhawks also average 16.1 assists, 6.8 steals and 4.3 blocked shots per contest.

Senior F Perry Ellis has scored 20 or more points in six of his last seven games including both NCAA Championship victories: 21 vs. Austin Peay (3/17) and 21 vs. Connecticut (3/19). He leads Kansas in scoring at 16.9 ppg, good for third in the league, and is second in rebounding at 5.9 rpg, 11th in the conference. Ellis has 14 games of 20 or more points this season. Ellis averaged 17.7 points and 5.8 rebounds during Big 12 play.

Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. is a starter who scores 13.6 points per game after his team-high 22 points against Connecticut (3/19). He ranks eighth in the Big 12 in scoring and leads KU with 72 3-pointers this season. At 40.4 percent, Selden is one of eight Jayhawks making 40 percent or better from 3-point range.

Junior G Frank Mason III is averaging 12.8 points for the season, 12th in the conference. Mason leads KU with 4.6 assists per contest, fourth in the conference, and is second on the team with 47 steals. Sophomore G Devonte’ Graham, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2016 Big 12 Championship where he averaged 17.3 point and 3.3 assists in leading KU to the title, leads KU  with 51 steals and is second on the team in assists (137) and 3-point field goals made (70). He is scoring 11.4 points per game, which is 18th in the league.

Junior F Landen Lucas rounds out the KU starters. He leads Kansas in rebounding at 6.5 boards per game, which ranks seventh in the Big 12. Lucas scores 5.5 points per game and has averaged 8.8 boards in his last 13 outings.

Sophomore G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk scored a career-high 23 points against Austin Peay (3/17). He averages 5.6 points and has made 37 3-pointers this season. Junior G Brannen Greene is a regular who has made 31 3-pointers this season and scores 5.4 points per game off the bench.

Freshman F Carlton Bragg Jr., averaged 8.0 points in three Big 12 Championship games and is averaging 4.0 ppg and 2.4 rpg for the season. Senior F Jamari Traylor leads KU with 33 blocked shots, including five in two NCAA Championship games. Traylor is averaging 3.1 points and 3.4 rebounds for the season.

Freshman Cheick Diallo averages 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. His 23 blocked shots are tied for second on the team with Lucas and senior F Hunter Mickelson, who has started 10 games this season and is averaging 2.3 points and 2.3 rebounds.

Located in College Park, Maryland with an enrollment of 37,641 is 27-8 on the season and finished tied for third in the Big Ten conference with a 12-6 record. The Terps are coached by KU alum Mark Turgeon who is 114-58 in his fifth season at Maryland and 364-217 in 17 seasons overall.

Maryland averages 76.1 points per game and has a +9.7 scoring margin. The Terps rank 10th nationally with a 48.8 field goal percentage and 17th nationally with 5.4 blocked shots per game. Maryland averages 35.3 rebounds per game and has a +3.1 rebound margin. Maryland also averages 13.8 assists and 5.4 steals per contest.

Sophomore G Melo Trimble leads Maryland in scoring at 14.8 points per game. His 57 3-pointers are tied for the team lead with senior F Jake Layman. Trimble leads the Terrapins in free throw made (152), assists (174) and steals (43).

Layman scores 11.7 points per game, makes 82.8 percent from the free throw line and averages 5.3 rebounds per contest. Freshman C Diamond Stone is second in scoring at 12.7 points per game. He is second on the team with 5.4 rebounds per outing and leads Maryland with 55 blocked shots.

Junior F Robert Carter is a starter who scores 12.4 points per game and leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per outing. His 44 blocks are second on the team. Senior G Rasheed Sulaimon scores 11.1 points per game and is second on the team with 124 assists and 40 steals. He has made 55 3-pointers.

Sophomore G/F Jared Nickens comes off the bench to average 5.5 points per game. He is a 3-point specialist who has made 51 treys this season. Other Maryland regulars include junior F Damonte Dodd (2.9 ppg, 13 starts) and sophomore G Jaylen Brantley (2.4 ppg).

Selection: Kansas