photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Josh Jackson (11) elevates for a shot over UC Davis forward Garrison Goode (44) during the second half on Friday, March 17, 2017 at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In the past couple of days, we’ve used a bunch of words and thoughts, characters and quotes to set up today’s second-round clash between top-seeded Kansas (29-4) and No. 9 seed Michigan State (20-14) at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

And while a key hustle play, clutch adjustment or subtle benefit from a little extra attention to the scouting report and tendencies of an opponent can help decide games such as these, most of the time, more than words or thoughts or strategies or breakdowns, the games are decided by the numbers.

Those are the things that matter most, more so than the way the game is officiated, coached or even the style with which it’s played.

While their records differ drastically, the numbers for these two teams are awfully similar in many areas, in terms of both overall team statistics and some of the individual match-ups that figure to be key in this one.

With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at today’s 4:15 p.m., head-to-head match-up between the Jayhawks and Spartans through the eyes of the most relevant season-long statistics posted by both teams.

Points per game

KU: 83.2 MSU: 71.9

FG percentage

KU: 48.9 MSU: 47.1

3-point FG percentage

KU: 40.6 MSU: 37.4

Free throw percentage

KU: 67.1 MSU: 66.9

Rebounds per game

KU: 39 MSU: 36.7

Offensive rebounding percentage

KU: 38.6 MSU: 32.6

Assists per game

KU: 16.4 MSU: 17

Blocks per game

KU: 4.7 MSU: 4.7

Steals per game

KU: 6.9 MSU: 4.4

Scoring defense

KU: 72.1 MSU: 68.1

FG percentage defense

KU: 41.7 MSU: 40.6

3-point FG percentage defense

KU: 35.3 MSU: 34.4

Turnover margin

KU: +4.5 MSU: +3.9

vs. current AP Top 25

KU: 6-2 MSU: 3-7

The names are in, the story lines are written, the stage is set.

From here, it’ll be the numbers above and how each team performs and executes in many of those areas that determines which team moves on to next week’s Sweet 16 in Kansas City, Mo.