2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament: West Virginia vs Washington

Despite all the upsets and Cinderella runs in this region, the East ended up playing out like it was supposed to - with Kentucky and West Virginia playing for the right to go to Indianapolis.

There isn't a team better suited to play the Wildcats than West Virginia. The Mounties are just as strong, just as athletic, and while they may not have the size inside to match DeMarcus Cousins, they have more than enough able bodies to run at him.

West Virginia's issue is going to be backcourt play. Without Truck Bryant, the Men from Morgantown really only have one point guard on the roster; Casey Mitchell, who is a shooting guard, started Thursday night against Washington and didn't make all that much of an impact (then again, he didn't preside over a loss, either).

Kentucky, as Thursday night should have proven once and for all, is a very good defensive team these days. With the talent and athleticism that Coach John Calipari has on that roster, the only thing Cal needed was for his guys to buy into his methods and put in the effort at the defensive end of the floor, and they have. They completely dominated a Cornell team that had stormed through the tournament's first weekend... well, not at the offensive end, but surely on defense.

Cornell had just smoked a very good defense-first team from Wisconsin in the second round of the Big Dance. The Badgers had been allowing an average of just 56 points per game on defense, and Cornell rang up 87 points against them last Sunday. Cornell also hit 72 percent of its two-point shots in a first-round win over another really good defensive team from Temple University. This was something of an offensive juggernaut - not, perhaps, on an absolute scale, but certainly within the confines of the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament - and Kentucky ground it to a halt on Thursday. By giving up just six points in the final 15 minutes of the first half against Cornell, and a total of 34 points in the first 36 minutes against the Big Red, Kentucky - in its effort level and its overall defensive awareness - showed a level of maturity many pundits didn't think the Wildcats had.

Personally, it's hard to see this game as being anything other than a dogfight. West Virginia is going to have some struggles against the pressuring defense Kentucky can play, but it's a near certainty that the Mountaineers will be playing a lot of their 1-3-1 zone, which has become very effective late in the season. Kentucky is going to need to knock down some jump shots to get Bob Huggins out of that zone look, which is an excellent way for WVU to utilize its length and force opponents into shooting a lot of contested shots outside the painted area.

This game may very well be decided on the offensive glass. At times, both of these teams get their best offensive production when throw the ball up and go get the rebound. In the final minutes, expect a low-scoring game to turn based on a few loose-ball scrambles at the Carrier Dome.

NCAA Tournament Elite 8 Preview - West Virginia vs Kentucky