Today’s Game

NO. 2 KENTUCKY VS. NO. 5 MICHIGAN STATE

* How they got here: Kentucky defeated No. 15 Eastern Kentucky, 72-64; No. 7 Cincinnati, 69-60; and No. 6 Utah, 62-52. Michigan State defeated No. 12 Old Dominion, 89-81; No. 13 Vermont, 72-61; and No. 1 Duke, 78-68.

*--* STARTERS Kentucky Ht Wt Stat Pos Michigan Ht Wt Stat State Chuck Hayes 6-6 242 7.8 rpg F Alan 6-6 220 13.7 ppg Anderson Kelenna 6-5 208 14.8 ppg F Maurice Ager 6-5 195 13.5 ppg Azubuike Randolph 6-10 266 8.4 ppg C Paul Davis 6-11 267 7.7 rpg Morris Rajon Rondo 6-1 171 3.5 apg G Shannon 6-4 205 10.4 ppg Brown Patrick Sparks 6-0 180 10.9 ppg G Drew Neitzel 6-0 170 2.9 apg RESERVES Ramel Bradley 6-1 179 4.5 ppg G Chris Hill 6-3 190 9.1 ppg Ravi Moss 6-2 190 3.8 ppg G Kelvin 6-5 215 9.6 ppg Torbert Bobby Perry 6-6 228 3.4 ppg F Matt Trannon 6-6 217 3.5 rpg

*--*

* How they match up: The teams are almost mirror images of each other: Both are tough, defensive minded, deep on the bench and lacking a true superstar. Kentucky routinely plays 13 players; Michigan State can go eight or nine deep. Neither team has a scorer who averages more than 15 points or a player who averages more than 29 minutes.

* Keys: Three Kentucky centers helped frustrate and neutralize Utah star center Andrew Bogut in Friday’s semifinal win and will need to do the same against Michigan State center Paul Davis, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds the Spartans’ win over Duke. Davis has averaged a double-double in the tournament -- 15 points and 10.7 rebounds.

-- Chris Dufresne