Arkansas Knocks Off Defending Champion Kansas in Second Round of NCAA Tournament
Reese Strickland / USA Today Sports / Reuters
DES MOINES, Iowa (PSF) - The Arkansas Razorbacks upset the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, 72-71. The Razorbacks, an eight seed, defeated the one-seeded Jayhawks to make it six years in a row in which the defending champions failed to reach the Sweet 16. Last season’s defending champion, the Baylor Bears, were similarly upset by North Carolina in another eight seed over one seed matchup.
Kansas held a steady lead for a majority of the game until Arkansas came back in the second half to make it a close game. Kansas was up eight points at halftime. They were playing without head coach Bill Self, who has been recovering from a health issue. Assistant Norm Roberts had been the acting head coach in his absence.
This game wasn’t as much about bad play from Kansas as much it was about stellar play in the second half from Arkansas. The aggressiveness and athleticism of the Razorbacks proved to be too much for Kansas, although it was a very close game throughout the final nine minutes that ended in just a one-point loss for the Jayhawks. Free throws were crucial to Arkansas’s victory as they shot a terrific 21-26 from the line, or 81 percent.
Down three with 8 seconds, Kansas forward Jalen Wilson was fouled on a two-point shot and cut the lead to one. Kansas fouled Ricky Council IV of the Razorbacks to extend the game, and he made both of his free throws to get the lead back to three. Wilson was fouled by Arkansas before they could get up a three point shot and with only three seconds left. This is a common strategy by teams to avoid the possibility of a made three point field goal to tie the game.
This meant that Wilson would have to make the first free throw and try to miss the second so that Kansas could get a tip-in or one final shot at tying the game. He made the first, but accidentally made the second as well. Arkansas was able to inbound the ball, and Kansas was not able to foul in time before the clock ran out.
In the final game of the season for Kansas, Wilson scored 20 points and added four rebounds. Three other starters scored in double figures for the Jayhawks as KJ Adams had 14 points, Kevin McCullar finished with 13, and Dajuan Harris added 12.
Arkansas got most of their points from a pair of junior guards in Council and Davonte Davis. Davis was huge in the second half when he had 21 of his 25 points, and also had eight rebounds. Council scored 21 along with six rebounds, while freshman Jordan Walsh added 10 points off the bench and also played a key defensive role.
Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman was ecstatic after the win and celebrated by taking off his shirt and waving it at the Arkansas fans in the crowd. Davis was emotional following his big performance that helped to pull off this upset after the team’s overall struggles at times during the season.
It was the second consecutive year that Arkansas defeated the one seed in their region of the NCAA Tournament. Last season, they upset number one overall seed Gonzaga as a four seed to make the Elite Eight. They will look to win their next game against the Connecticut Huskies in order to make it back to the Elite Eight and continue their run in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
