INDIANAPOLIS — Coach Bill Self didn’t preach rebounding fundamentals leading up to tonight’s game against Michigan State.

When these teams last met, most of the final stats mirrored each other. Both squads hit about 40 percent from the field, both had similar assist-to-turnover numbers and each had three players score in double figures.

However, the most glaring difference was on the glass, where Michigan State pulled down 13 offensive boards and out-rebounded Kansas 42-31.

Asked if his team just needed to do a better job of boxing out, Self shook his head.

“If you’re going to value what is important in rebounding, boxing out is definitely 25-50 percent part of it,” Self said. “The other part is having guys who are relentless on the glass, not allowing yourself to be blocked out.”

Basically, Self said, desire outweighs footwork when it comes to crashing the glass. That was on display in East Lansing, Mich., when Cole Aldrich, who grabbed 11 boards, was the only Jayhawk to pull down more than three rebounds for Kansas.

The Jayhawks are hardly the only team to get “whipped,” as Self said, by the Spartans on the glass. Coach Tom Izzo’s team leads the nation in rebounding margin at +10.1. Kansas is tied for 10th at +7.2.

Michigan State has been outrebounded just three times this season, the last one coming in a 67-63 victory against Texas on Dec. 20.

The Spartans credit their rebounding prowess to a drill Izzo created in the late ‘90s. The drill, aptly named War, pits five players outside the three-point line against five players inside the line. The goal: relentlessly attack the basketball and anyone who gets in the way.

“It gets physical, it gets rough,” senior center Goran Suton said. “I think that’s the reason we’re one of the best rebounding teams in the country.”

Suton said he enjoyed it at first, but the fun wore off after he had been doing the drill every practice for two years.

“Throw a ball up and see who can knock somebody down and get a rebound,” Izzo said. “It’s not very sophisticated, but I think it has helped us.”

Izzo said he originally came up with the idea because his overmatched team couldn’t win any other way. A decade later and Michigan State is consistently one of the top rebounding teams in the country, which has helped lead Izzo to four Final Fours.

“Tom, over time, has done the best job in America of coaching rebounding,” Self said. “They are relentless on the glass.”

Self’s players are well aware of the Spartans’ rebounding prowess. Freshman forward Marcus Morris said he learned in East Lansing that putting a body on someone is only half the battle.

“We need to play with the same intensity they play with,” Morris said. “In these type of games boxing out isn’t enough, you’ve got to go get it.”

That’s easy to say, but flipping a mental switch to ramp up aggressive play rarely just happens in a matter of five days. Of course, Kansas could always just hope its 6-foot-11 rebounding machine gobbles up every miss like he did 20 times against Dayton.

“It’s not just me always grabbing every rebound, even though it may seem like it,” Aldrich said. “We’ve got other big guys who are able to grab a lot of rebounds.”

Those guys include freshman Marcus Morris, twin brother Markieff and junior Mario Little. Combined with Aldrich, that group has averaged 27.5 rebounds per game in the tournament.

Considering the size difference between Michigan State and Kansas’ first two opponents, it will be a real battle to reach that number tonight. And that’s exactly what Self has been telling them.

“You have to hit and go get as opposed to hit and wait,” Self said. “They’re very, very good at not allowing themselves to be blocked off and keeping balls alive. A lot of rebounding is fundamental, but most of it is want-to.”

So, who wants it more?

— — Edited by Justin Leverett