Kansas News

Still Dancin': Azubuike leads Jayhawks to third straight Elite Eight appearance | KUsports.com
Thanks to a strong start and a hold-on-for-dear-life finish on Friday night, top-seeded Kansas knocked off No. 5 seed Clemson 80-76 at the three-ACC-school regional semifinals at CenturyLink Center to advance to the program's third consecutive Elite Eight, where the Jayhawks will face yet another ACC squad, second-seeded Duke (29-7), in Sunday's regional final.

Silvio De Sousa confident as ever after late free throws, win over Clemson | Chasen Point | KUsports.com
However many KU fans filled CenturyLink Center on Friday, there was a palpable tension as Silvio De Sousa stepped to the line in a six-point game with less than 90 seconds left.

Postgame Report Card: Kansas 80, Clemson 76 | Tale of the Tait | KUsports.com
KU shot it well enough — 47 percent overall and 46 percent from 3-point range — but the Jayhawks struggled to take care of the ball when it counted most and also shot just 14-of-22 from the free throw line. They're going to have to do better in both areas on Sunday against Duke and a lot of the talk in the locker room after Friday's victory was about how this team still has yet to play its best game of the tournament.

Jayhawks settle for stopping Gabe DeVoe's teammates in Sweet 16 victory | KUsports.com
No one in Clemson basketball history ever scored more points in an NCAA Tournament game than senior guard Gabe DeVoe did Friday night in the Sweet 16.

Kansas survives close call vs. Clemson to advance to Elite Eight | KUsports.com
Although top-seeded Kansas looked in control against Clemson early in the second half, the Tigers rallied to make the Jayhawks sweat before KU escaped CenturyLink Center with a 80-76 victory Friday night.

Duke beats Syracuse in Sweet 16, will advance to play Kansas in Elite 8
On this night, though, Duke and Syracuse kept the score close for the entire game. But Duke answered Syracuse’s comeback attempt with some clutch buckets and free throws for the victory.

Kansas is back where dreams have so often died: 'I think about it all the time'
Oregon last year. Villanova the year before that.

"I think about it all the time," senior guard Devonte Graham said.

Why KU's Svi Mykhailiuk didn't throw that inbounds pass to an open Lagerald Vick
"I told Svi, 'Get me the ball,'" Graham said. "I feel real confident in my ability to make free throws, and I knew they were going to have to foul."

A Clemson player dared Kansas guard Lagerald Vick to shoot. It didn’t go over well
The ball reached Lagerald Vick a step in front of the Clemson bench, and the verbal jabs immediately followed.

“Can’t hit that,” one Clemson player shouted toward the court.

Vick paused with the ball on his hip, baiting Clemson center Elijah Thomas to inch closer to the three-point line. As Thomas eventually neared, Vick sized up a shot, and then he released it.

Swish.

Thanks to a treadmill and some Self help, Kansas on verge of Final Four after takedown of Clemson – The Athletic
OMAHA – Kansas coach Bill Self has had a treadmill on the practice floor for years. It helped him win a national championship as the tool to get Brandon... (ed note- i'm really intrigued by the first 2 paragraphs of this story but the rest is behind a paywall FYI)

March Madness: Previewing Duke vs Kansas, rest of Elite Eight | SI.com
But the numbers in front of the names don’t matter at this point. The winners will head to the Final Four, and the losers will go home. “So much is matchups, and there's so many good teams not playing this weekend,” said Kansas State coach Bruce Weber, whose ninth-seeded team will face No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago on Saturday in Atlanta. “That's what I kept emphasizing to our guys. I don't care how we got here, we're playing.”

NCAA Tournament 2018: Duke and Kansas give us the blue bloods we need for the Elite Eight - CBSSports.com
But Cinderellas should know their place. And the place for so many Cinderellas is the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, not the second weekend -- and certainly not in the Final Four.

Kansas into Elite Eight vs Duke, led by Udoka Azubuike | SI.com
After the final seconds of Kansas’s latest triumph in this NCAA tournament had ticked away, Udoka Azubuike, parked on the bench after picking up his fifth foul with 2:30 left in the second half, stood up, looked out at the jubilant tableau unfolding before him and began clapping. A towel draped over his shoulders and a black brace supporting his left knee, Azubuike dapped up a teammate, senior guard Devonté Graham, before entering the handshake line and joining another one, sophomore guard Malik Newman, for interviews on press row.

After back-to-back Elite Eight exits, Bill Self, Devonte' Graham and Kansas look to get over the hump | NCAA.com
No, the Kansas Jayhawks moved on Friday night — but now they face the ghosts of their own past. They had heard the thuds of falling big names elsewhere. Virginia and Xavier, North Carolina and Arizona, and Cincinnati and Kentucky. Plop, plop, plop. Not for them, and maybe that’s why they rolled up a 20-point lead on Clemson before scuffling to the finish line to win 80-76.

2018 NCAA Tournament: Bill Self on cusp of his best coaching job with not-at-all-soft Kansas - CBSSports.com
It is not breaking news to fans of Kansas basketball that this season has at times seemed like one of the most trying seasons in recent memory. Kansas, a program that had lost only 10 games at home since Bill Self took over in 2003, lost three games at home this season. The team was too reliant on guard play due to a total lack of frontcourt depth. Fans waited for freshman big man Billy Preston to become eligible, but that never happened. The team could shoot it but could not get to the rim. For much of the season, Kansas has ranked at or near the bottom of college basketball in the percentage of its point that come from the free-throw line, an indicator of an imbalanced roster.