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The key player in each Sweet 16 matchup

NCAA Basketball Tournament - Cincinnati v Florida State

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 18: Yancy Gates #34 of the Cincinnati Bearcats shoots the ball against the Florida State Seminoles during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 18, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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Yancy Gates, Cincinnati vs. Ohio State: It’s no secret who Ohio State’s offense is orchestrated around -- Jared Sullinger. He’s the most dangerous low-post scoring threat in the country. But Sully can struggle when he goes teams with more length. Gates isn’t all that much taller than Sullinger, but he’s just as strong. When Sullinger is struggling to score, Ohio State is forced to rely on Aaron Craft, Deshaun Thomas and William Buford for points. Those three can be inconsistent, and thus Ohio State becomes beatable.

Tu Holloway, Xavier vs. Baylor: Holloway’s importance is two-fold. On the one hand, he is Xavier’s best offensive weapon. As you are well aware, he is a big-time scorer that thrives in pressure situations. If Baylor is sitting back in their zone, Holloway is going to be the guy they look at to break down the defense. Holloway is also the best defender on Xavier, and he will be tasked with trying to keep Pierre Jackson out of the lane, which is not an enviable task.

CJ Leslie, NC State vs. Kansas: Leslie has become developed into quite an effective low-post scoring threat this season, and he’s been a dominant factor in the Wolfpack’s first two wins in this tournament. He’ll be going up against Thomas Robinson, a contender for National Player of the Year, as NC State takes on Kansas. Getting T-Rob in foul trouble wouldn’t hurt.

Erik Murphy, Florida vs. Marquette: Murphy is going to be the guy tasked with matching up with Marquette’s Jae Crowder, which will be a difficult thing for him to do. Crowder is about as versatile as a forward gets. He’s capable of going for 26 points, 14 boards, four assists and four steals in a game, as he did against BYU in the opening round. Murphy is a stretch-four, meaning that his role is to knock down threes to open up space in the paint for Patric Young and Florida’s guards. Can he defend Crowder?

Peyton Siva, Louisville vs. Michigan State: Louisville can muck it up defensively with anyone in the country, including Michigan State. Their issue is on the offensive end of the floor, and that is where Siva comes into play. Prior to Saturday’s win over New Mexico, Siva had been averaging 14.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 6.3 apg and 2.6 spg over a five-game stretch. He only had six points and five assists against the Lobos, but he made all the big plays down the stretch. His emergence is the reason Louisville has made it this far in March; he’ll need to continue to play at this level is Louisville wants to continue to advance.

Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin vs. Syracuse: With or without Fab Melo, the Syracuse zone still have tough defenders on their perimeter. The Badgers are a team that thrives on their ability to shoot the three, and Jordan Taylor will be the guy that makes that happen. His ability to get into the paint and either a) hit a shot in the mid-range or b) find one of Wisconsin’s shooters will be the difference in the game.

Stilman White, North Carolina vs. Ohio: With Kendall Marshall’s broken wrist, White has all of a sudden become the most important player on the Tar Heel’s roster. He’s their only option at the point. There is not way that he is going to be able to lead the break the way that Marshall did, but UNC should still be able to advance if he can get the ball to the scorers for the Tar Heels.

Cody Zeller, Indiana vs. Kentucky: A major part of the reason that Indiana was able to knock off Kentucky earlier in this season is that Cody Zeller was able to get Anthony Davis into foul trouble. If the Hoosiers have any hope of pulling the sweet, Zeller is going to have to do the same thing.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.