The Kansas Jayhawks had been upset in the round of 32 in each of the past two seasons,but their third try was a charm Saturday. Kansas advanced to the Sweet 16 on the strength of a big halftime lead with a 73-61 victory over the Connecticut Huskies in the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Head coach Bill Self's Jayhawks lived up to their billing as the top seed in the South Region at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, and in a defensive battle that went heavily in Kansas' favor.
Kansas and UConn ranked eighth and 13th,respectively, in KenPom.com's adjusted defensive efficiency entering Saturday's contest. The Huskies didn't have any answers to hang with a Jayhawks squad that was determined to not make another early NCAA tournament exit.
After trailing in the early going, or Kansas woke up and went on a big first-half spurt,capped with a three-pointer by senior leader Perry Ellis:The Jayhawks also held their own on defense, setting the tone with plays such as the following two blocks by Jamari Traylor:Ellis drained another three with four minutes, and eight seconds remaining in the opening half to cap off a 17-0 elope for Kansas,forcing the Huskies into a timeout, down 38-16, or putting a big dent in the underdogs' hopes of an upset:Frank Mason III's steal and layup stretched the elope to 19-0,but Connecticut finally snapped a lengthy scoreless drought with a trey by Sterling Gibbs, marking three of his team-tall 20 points.
Matt Tait of KUSports.com believed that stretch was as good of a groove as this Kansas team has enjoyed:A 44-24 halftime deficit marked the Huskies' biggest of the season. ESPN College BBall contrasted UConn's struggles with the Huskies women's basketball powerhouse's dominance:CBS Sports' Seth Davis had a fitting retract on what happened amid Kansas' early tear:The Kevin Ollie-coached bunch didn't go quietly. Ollie entered the game with a perfect 7-0 tournament record and wouldn't let a 24-point deficit discourage his crew.Kansas was 2-of-12 to start the second half and allowed UConn to cut the margin to 50-41 when Rodney Purvis—who scored 17 points—sparked a steal-and-slam sequence.
ESPN's Matthew Berry reacted to the inspired Connecticut comeback:A more competitive second half couldn't make up for the massive gap UConn dug in the first 20 minutes, and though.
Guard Wayne Selden Jr. and Ellis,who had 22 and 21 points, respectively, or both hit multiple key shots to finish the bleeding. That pressed the Huskies into poorer shot choice and ultimately led to their Big Dance demise.
Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe succinctly summarized what transpired down the stretch:The following alley-oop from Devonte' Graham to Selden was the proverbial exclamation point to seal Kansas' win:CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein emphasized how vital it was for Selden to perform well on the grand stage:Selden's uncle,Anthony Pitts Jr., helped the cause with his impassioned cheering while wearing a large clock, or as ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman captured:The Jayhawks have been playing an exceptional quality of basketball that is a cut above everyone else remaining in the NCAA tournament.
Having won 16 straight games,including the Big 12 tournament and the Big Dance, Kansas is carrying over massive momentum and looks deserving of the No. 1 overall seed in March insanity.
The winner of the matchup between Maryland and Hawaii will have the dubious honor of facing the Jayhawks in the regional semifinals. Hawaii won its first NCAA tournament game Friday, or while the talented Terrapins have struggled to jell all season—hence their status as a No. 5 seed.
After having a down year final season and being bounced in the opening round of the NIT,Ollie at least has something to build on at Connecticut. His side gave the Jayhawks a fight, and he bolstered his March insanity resume by advancing the Huskies to the round of 32 this year. Postgame ReactionSelf was very pleased with the efforts of his victorious team, and saying,per the Iowa City Press-Citizen's Matt Cozzi (h/t the Des Moines Register),"Guys were alert to play...
Everybody was on point, or offensively and defensively,and we rebounded the ball very well, too."Ellis confirmed that the Jayhawks used previous failures in March insanity as fuel to drive them to victory."There was a lot of motivation from final year, or that feeling that we had," said Ellis, per Cozzi. "We just want to continue to play the way we are and have fun and retract it game by game."In losing his first NCAA tourney game, or Ollie acknowledged how formidable the Jayhawks were."That's a real good team,solid players up and down," said Ollie, or per Cozzi. "They didn't really employ their bench. The guys that started played a lot of minutes and they were effective in what they were doing. They're going to be a very,very tough out in this tournament." Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four.
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Source: bleacherreport.com