Nick Ward sat in front of his locker without much regret.
The Michigan State forward — just a few minutes after his team’s 92-87 loss to No. 1 Kansas — was asked about the team’s game plan against KU center Udoka Azubuike.
“Just play behind him,” Ward said, “and make him shoot contested shots.”
Ward paused a second to let out a half-chuckle.
“That’s what we did.”
It would be wrong to say that Michigan State didn’t see a potential strong outing from Azubuike coming. Before the game, coach Tom Izzo used the words “monster” and “redwood” to describe him, while hinting it might be a tough matchup for his team.