Kansas Jayhawks, last 1 seed standing, reach Elite 8 with late surge against Providence
It was No. 1 seed Kansas’ defense — not the offense that put up 83 and 79 points in the Jayhawks’ first two NCAA Tournament games — that fueled a 66-61 Sweet 16 victory over No. 4 seed Providence on Friday night at the United Center.
“I think the first half was about as well as we could guard,” KU coach Bill Self said after his Jayhawks (31-6) held the Friars (27-6) of the Big East Conference to 17 points the initial 20 minutes in building a nine-point halftime lead.
Providence’s 17 points were fewest in a half against KU in an NCAA Tournament game since Ohio scored 15 in a 49-38 first-round loss to the Jayhawks in the 1985 tourney.
“I told the guys at halftime, when the other team shoots it like they shot it (7 of 35 for 20% from the field, including 1 of 13 from three the initial half) and how we guard them only to be up nine, that’s not a great sign.
“But we made them play poor. They made us play poor. But when the other team can’t score, you’re not going to lose very often. And even though we didn’t guard them great the second half, I think the totality of the game certainly, that played to our favor,” added Self, whose squad averages 78.7 points per game on the season.
Sparked by senior backup point guard Remy Martin’s 23 points (13 the first half), his most points in a game in his one season as a Jayhawk, KU managed to upend the Friars despite squandering a 13-point lead with 14:53 left.
Details of what some might call an “ugly win” didn’t seem to bother the Jayhawks, who move on to Sunday’s Elite Eight game against No. 10 seed Miami (Florida), which beat 11th-seeded Iowa State 70-56. Tipoff is set for 1:20 p.m. on CBS.
The victory also vaulted Kansas past Kentucky for the most wins in college basketball history. KU has 2,354 victories against 877 losses. Kentucky, which lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Saint Peter’s, is 2,353-720.
“The toughest team will always win,” KU forward Jalen Wilson said after scoring 16 points on 5-of-16 shooting (5-of-5 from the free throw line) with 11 rebounds in 38 minutes. Christian Braun had 10 boards to go with his six points in 35 minutes, while David McCormack had eight points and two boards in 23 minutes. At times in the first half the senior forward seemed to be struggling running with a sore right foot.
“I try to be the toughest on the court I can be and the toughest team on the court,” Wilson added. His basket and foul shot gave KU a 50-48 lead with 5:21 left. “We play with that mindset, and a chip on our shoulder and we can get through any situation like tonight.”
Wilson added: “If it gets ugly, it comes to defensive rebounding and playing like that, if we win like that every game I’m not tripping, that’s how it is. When everybody’s good on the floor, you’ve got two good teams, two good coaches, games will get like that. And like Coach said, if our offense is bad, we need to make them play worse than us, really.”
The Jayhawks, who wound up hitting 39.3% of their shots (including 2 of 14 threes) to Providence’s 33.8% (4 of 23 from three) are the only remaining No. 1 seed in the tournament after Gonzaga and Arizona lost their Sweet 16 games on Thursday night.
Perhaps nerves hit the squad in the second half when Providence outscored KU 44-40?
“I personally don’t think so,” Self said. “I think in sports, when things don’t go your way offensively and the other team has momentum and they’re playing with a freer mind coming back, I do think that sometimes that basket shrinks a little bit. And I think that did tonight.
“But we got some good driving baskets. There were enough individual plays taking place that kind of allowed us to get through it.”
KU survived an off night from Ochai Agbaji, who scored five points on 2-of-8 shooting (0 for 4 on threes) in 37 minutes. Yet Martin seemed to pick up the scoring slack hitting 7 of 13 shots, including 1 of 4 from three, and 8 of 13 free throws.
“This is the second game in a row where he’s came in in the first half and just completely taken over,” Wilson said of Martin, who had 20 points in KU’s second-round win over Creighton.
“Playing with so much confidence. We love it. We love him playing like that. We need him playing like that. He’s been able to save us out of situations when we need a shot late in the clock. He’s able to create his own shot. That’s something not a lot of guys can do, especially at his speed. So, we’re just loving his confidence.”
Of Agbaji, Self said: “When you only take eight shots I don’t know if I ever consider that a slump. I know one thing, the lid will come off eventually. And when it does it will be good for KU people. But right now I think he’s doing enough stuff to help us win and we’ve had other guys step up. So we don’t put too much emphasis on that at all.”
An unsung hero may have been McCormack, who had no points in 12 minutes the first half and eight points in 11 minutes the final half.
“I actually thought David struggled tonight. But I also thought we wouldn’t have won the game without him. So it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Self said. “I didn’t think he rebounded the ball or defended his position very well early. And he had a couple of touches in there we came away with nothing that could have been points. But at the end of the day he delivered for us when it counted.”
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This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks, last 1 seed standing, reach Elite 8 with late surge against Providence."
