ST. LOUIS -- The championship game of the NCAA Midwest regional is a matchup of flash against force, blueblood against blue collar.
On one side is Kentucky, a sleek group that isn't flustered by a slow tempo. The third-seeded Wildcats (28-8) won the national championship in 1996 and 1998 and were runners-up in '97. They have won 20 of their past 21 NCAA tournament games.Then there is top-seeded Michigan State (32-4), which likes to run but is perfectly comfortable pounding opponents in a halfcourt game. The Spartans, who have bumped and ground their way to 21 straight victories, are one more ugly win away from their first Final Four since 1979.
"I think it's going to be an up-and-down game," Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State's All-America guard, said. "But I think the key is going to be who can execute in the halfcourt offense. Both teams have good athletes and do a good job of playing defense."
Cleaves looks and occasionally plays like a linebacker. He rammed into Oklahoma forward Eduardo Najera in Friday night's semifinal, when, while running into a pick he didn't see, his head smashed into Najera's jaw.
Cleaves is at his best in the open floor or when he is able to penetrate. He was only 3-of-14 against Oklahoma, but he wasn't alone. The Spartans shot 40 percent as a team.
However, they held Oklahoma to 17-of-51 and were especially effective defending the perimeter.
DUKE VS. TEMPLE: The teams are nothing alike and neither are their basketball histories. The coaches, except for impressive winning percentages and respect of their peers, have little in common.
Maybe the differences are what makes today's East Regional final between top-ranked Duke and sixth-seeded Temple so appealing.
The Blue Devils (35-1) have won 30 straight games and lead the nation in scoring (93.2 points) and margin of victory (26.1 points per game). Their 51.6 percent shooting is second in the nation.
Temple (24-10) has won three straight games and average just 66.7 points per game. The Owls' 52.7 shooting in their regional semifinal win over Purdue was only the third time this season they made more than half their shots.
Duke is trying to reach the Final Four for the 12th time, the eighth under coach Mike Krzyzewski and first since 1994. Temple is looking for its third trip there and first for coach John Chaney.
Don't even get Chaney started on the difference between the teams' talent levels, especially on the bench.
"I don't think there is another team in the country that has the ability of the Duke basketball team," Chaney said Saturday.