DES MOINES, Iowa — They’re two of the best point guards in the country.
IU senior guard Yogi Ferrell and and Kentucky sophomore guard Tyler Ulis seem to be the two most-talked about players ahead of IU's game against Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
But the thing is, the people most important in Saturday night’s game don’t seem to care.
“It’s going to be a 5-on-5 game,” junior forward Collin Hartman said. “I know Yogi said that earlier in the press conference but at the end of the day it’s going to come down to all five on the court executing the best.”
All the Hoosiers feel this way. Yes, both players are good in their own ways. IU Coach Tom Crean said Ulis is one of the best guards in the country at getting to the free throw line and pointed out Ulis has more points from free throws than 3-pointers.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari said Ferrell does most of his damage from behind the arc while Ulis’ mid-range game is dangerous.
Crean said it’s going to be a challenge to stay in front of Ulis, and that whoever is defending him is going to have to avoid getting into judgement call scenarios.
But there’s no guarantee this defender is even Ferrell. It might be sophomore guard Robert Johnson.
“I don’t think it’s going to come down to any one matchup,” Johnson said. “We’ve talked about a lot of different guys who can guard their guys so I know people are going to try and make about that but the better team will win.”
Johnson and Hartman aren’t the only two players who said something along these lines. So did freshman froward Juwan Morgan, freshman guard Harrison Niego and senior forward Max Bielfeldt.
Really, no one directly involved with the game is interested in the point guard matchup. Bielfeldt said he understands why fans are so interested. He remembers going to the 2005 Final Four as an 11-year-old Illinois fan and being star struck by all the great players.
But as a player, things are different. Now Bielfeldt is concerned with how the teams match up and how IU is going to attack the rim even with all of Kentucky’s shot-blocking ability.
For fans, the matchup is exciting. As a player, Bielfeldt said, it’s just one aspect of the game.
And perhaps the two most important people in this high-profile matchup — Ferrell and Ulis — don’t really seem to care either.
Ulis said he hasn’t even watched Ferrell play enough to talk about the matchup, only to say it won’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.
For Ferrell, he isn’t any more excited or motivated than he would be if Ulis wasn’t playing for Kentucky on Saturday.
“I wouldn't say so, not at all,” Ferrell said. “This is a team effort, 5 on 5, it's not 1 on 1, 5 on 1, this is 5 versus 5. I don't get too hyped up in the match-up, go out, play the same we would have played all year.”
