OU Basketball: Previewing the Sooners and Spartans

It's been six years since Oklahoma was last in the Sweet 16, and 13 since the Sooners went to the Final Four. And here are this year's Sooners, having already snapped one streak and looking to snap another one. Standing in the way in Syracuse are the Michigan State Spartans, who are no strangers to this stage of the NCAA tournament. Will experience prevail, or will move on? Here's a preview.

Projected Michigan State Starters

G Travis Trice- 15 ppg, 5.1 apg, 37.2 3-pt FG %

G Denzel Valentine- 14.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 4.4 apg, 41.8 3-pt FG %

G Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr.- 2.2 ppg, 2.4 apg

F Branden Dawson- 12.1 ppg, 9 rpg, 51 blocks

F Gavin Schilling- 5.1 ppg, 4 rpg, 24 blocks

Projected OU Starters

G Jordan Woodard- 9.3 ppg, 3.9 apg, 1.6 spg, 83.8 FT %

G Isaiah Cousins- 11.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 45.3 3-pt FG %

G Buddy Hield- 17.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 36.1 3-pt FG %, 81.7 FT %

F Ryan Spangler- 10 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 58.2 FG %, 30.3 3-pt FG %

F TaShawn Thomas- 11.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 52.4 FG %, 51 blocks

How the Spartans got to Syracuse: Defeated (10) Georgia, 70-63, and (2) Virginia, 60-54, in Charlotte

How the Sooners got to Syracuse: Defeated (14) Albany, 69-60, and (11) Dayton, 72-66 in Columbus

Key stat for Michigan State: 38.8 3-pt FG percentage

The Spartans rank 29th in the nation in 3-point FG percentage, an almost surprising thing considering Michigan State is considered more of a brute force program. But the Spartans have several capable 3-point shooters and they take no shortage of deep shots. Their 269 makes is 30th in the country. On the flip side, the Sooners are a top-50 team in 3-point defense, allowing team to shoot just 31.6 percent from deep this season. How the Spartans shoot from deep will go a long way toward deciding who wins this game.

Key stat for Oklahoma: 423 assists

Oklahoma relies on a lot of dribbling and individual creativity on offense, and that's proven in the stats. The Sooners' 423 assists are 141st in the country and only NC State and Louisville have fewer assists of the Sweet 16 teams. However, Oklahoma's offense is still successful in large part because of the talent on the roster. Michigan State has 607 assists this season, second in the nation behind North Carolina. The Sooners aren't going to be mistaken as the greatest passing team anytime soon, but when the offense is struggling, the ball sticks even more than usual. The Spartans are disciplined and the Sooners won't win with hero ball. Sharing the ball will be key for Oklahoma.

Why Oklahoma will win: The Sooners have arguably the best player on the court with Buddy Hield, and they know how to play together. They have started the same five all season and they enjoy playing together. Roles have become more clearly defined and after surviving two early round upset bids, the Sooners should be plenty loose as the highest remaining seed in the region. Loose teams simply play better.

Why Oklahoma will suffer a loss: Speaking of loose, the Spartans will be extremely loose after taking down No. 2 seed Virginia in Charlotte on Sunday. The narrative has been that Michigan State is down and while the Spartans may not be a national title caliber team on paper, all their losses—sans an overtime loss at home to Texas Southern—are completely explainable. Just because a team isn't a national title contender doesn't mean it's not a great team.

Key battle: Interior scoring/defense

Oklahoma and Michigan State each have big guys that are strictly that—big guys. Branden Dawson, Matt Costello and Gavin Schilling for Michigan State and Ryan Spangler, TaShawn Thomas, Khadeem Lattin and D.J. Bennett for OU won't fool anyone into thinking they're stretch four players who will drift to the perimeter and knock down open 3-pointers. The MSU trio has attempted four 3-pointers all season, while the OU quartet has 37, 33 of those from Spangler, with none of those attempts coming since March 2. So the battle in the paint is going to be intense. Dawson is just 6-foot-6, but plays a lot bigger. In fact, that's the case for all these guys, as the tallest among them is 6-foot-9.

Key factor: Postseason experience

Oklahoma has won its first two NCAA tournament games since 2009 in this year's tournament. Michigan State has 13 tournament wins and a Final Four since 2009 to go with a run to the 2009 title game. This is not a familiar place for this OU squad. For Michigan State, it's like a second home. Winning in the first two rounds is one thing, but at the regional level, things get cranked up quite a bit. This experience could become a factor in a close game, but the Sooners have been in plenty of those this year in the rugged Big 12. Just not on this big a stage.