At St. Louis
No. 1 Michigan State (32-4)
vs. No. 3 Kentucky (28-8)
Time: 5 p.m. today
TV: Chs. 13, 9
Line: Kentucky by 2
Conference records: Michigan State won the Big Ten regular season (15-1) and tournament titles. Kentucky finished second (11-5) in the Southeastern Conference East, then won the SEC tournament.
Coaches: Tom Izzo is 87-40 in four years at Michigan State. Tubby Smith is 63-12 in two years at Kentucky and 187-74 in eight years overall.
Starting lineups: Michigan State: PG Mateen Cleaves (11.8 ppg, 7.0 apg), G Charlie Bell (8.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg), F Antonio Smith (6.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg), F Andre Hutson (8.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg), F Jason Klein (9.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg). Kentucky: PG Wayne Turner (10.6 ppg, 3.8 apg), G Desmond Allison (4.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg), F Scott Padgett (12.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg), F Heshimu Evans (11.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg), C Michael Bradley (10.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg).
Bench strength: Michigan State got a huge boost from its bench in a 54-46 win over Oklahoma with a combined 21 points and 14 rebounds from Morris Peterson and A. J. Granger. Kentucky got 20 bench points in a 58-43 victory over Miami of Ohio, and the Wildcats have the luxury of running in an entire second unit that includes 6-10 Jamaal Magloire, 6-11 Souleymane Camara and 6-8 Tayshaun Prince.
Key matchup: Cleaves vs. Turner. Michigan State has shown it can win when Cleaves has an off night -- like Friday night -- but he'll need to play his A game against Kentucky's Turner. On an offense that has no featured scorer, it will be vital that Cleaves hits his shots from the perimeter. Kentucky doesn't need Turner to score as much -- the Wildcats have lots of options -- but he is capable.
What Michigan State needs to do to win: The Spartans will have to do better than the 40 percent shooting they had in the semifinals, especially when Kentucky plays zone in the half-court game. Michigan State's defense generally gets better as the game goes on. They'll need their best effort to deal with Kentucky's many options. And, as usual, the Spartans will have to pound the boards against the taller Wildcats.
What Kentucky needs to do to win: If the Wildcats can control the tempo and frustrate Michigan State with their defense, they will go a long way toward a date in St. Petersburg. Zone defenses give Michigan State the most trouble, so expect to see a lot of 2-3 or 1-2-2 from the Wildcats. Kentucky also wants to win the battle on the boards against one of the nation's top rebounding teams.
Bottom line: The big question is which team will wear down first. Michigan State wears down its opponents with defense and rebounding. Kentucky often overwhelms its opponents with its remarkable depth. Unless the Spartans shake their recent trend of struggling in the first half, look for Kentucky to dictate terms early and secure their fourth straight Final Four berth.