By Greg Echlin

It’s bad enough for Wichita State, upon its return from the Shocker’s upset loss against Marshall in San Diego, to see the Kansas Jayhawks take over their town.

It would be worse to see the fans in crimson and blue leave after celebrating a win to propel the Jayhawks to the Sweet 16.

Here’s why I don’t think it’s going to happen.

It’s what up front that counts:

Jayhawks coach Bill Self knows that rebounding has been a problem all year. This match-up against Seton Hall poses a problem that Kansas won’t be able to overcome. Even if Udoka Azubuike plays significantly more than his three-minute stint in the opening half against Penn two nights earlier, when he appeared tentative on his injured knee. It’s hard to imagine “Doke” taking a big step forward with his contributions, even with top-caliber treatment in the 48 hours since.

Plus, with a rotation of sophomore Mitch Lightfoot—who’s playing out of position at the post—and inexperienced freshman Silvio DeSousa, the Jayhawks are outmanned at the post by the experience of two senior frontliners for the Pirates, Angel Delgado and Ismael Sanogo. At 6-10, Delgado is the Big East’s all-time rebounding leader, breaking Derrick Coleman’s record set from his days at Syracuse (1986-90). Sanogo at 6-8 is not so much a monster on the boards, but a solid well-rounded forward who’s been playing well down the stretch for the Pirates.

It’s a game of inches:

It will be interesting to see how Kansas Naismith Award finalist Devonte Graham, listed at 6-2 handles the Pirates’ 6-4 senior guard, Khadeen Carrington, on both ends of the floor. Graham will try to be aggressive as he turned it up a notch against Penn when Kansas trailed by ten. But if there’s no production from the inconsistent Svi Myhailiuik, who can hit a three but has trouble finishing around the basket on a drive, or Lagerald Vick, then Graham will try to shoulder the burden. That, in this game, would be troublesome and a warning sign that it won’t end well.

Battle tested for the waving of the wheat:

Playing in the Big East Conference settings with tough road atmospheres, like 17,000-plus at Creighton, has prepared the Pirates for the partisan Kansas crowd at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita. The problem is Seton Hall didn’t win at Creighton on Jan. 17. Nor did the Pirates win this season at the site of two other No. 1 seeds, Villanova and Xavier. But if the Pirates keep KU out of its transition game and controls the tempo, they won’t be fazed by the crowd.

Senior moments will prevail:

Feeling the sting of two straight first-round losses in the NCAA tournament the last two years, the Pirates are playing with a purposes as their starting lineup is loaded with four seniors. In the second round of the NCAA tournament, the inexperience of players like DeSousa, Azubuike and Malik Newman will catch up to them.