Frank Mason III, who is my pick for National Player of the Year, dominated the action while displaying poise and leadership. He had 4 turnovers, but some turnovers from an overanxious Jackson are pretty par for the course at this point and a fair trade off for all of the other stuff he brings.
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And then the roof fell in. This was Kansas at its finest, showing that it can successfully match up with a bigger team and, in fact, emphatically answer with the mismatches that it creates.
Either way, the top-seeded Jayhawks proved their coach right in a big way – and a bunch of ways – during Thursday’s explosive, 98-66, Sweet 16 victory over fourth-seeded Purdue at Sprint Center. A weekend that saw him score 24 points against Iona and 27 against Rhode Island-going 9-10 from the floor in the latter.
In the 3 Sweet Sixteen appearances Painter has led Purdue to the team has never faced anything but a 1 seed.
That love is evident when Kansas and Purdue are on the court. Think about that: 73-33. They passed Purdue, which pulled over to the side of the road while KU zoomed by going 100 miles per hour.
Tipoff: 7:49 p.m. Saturday, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.
Mason and Devonte’ Graham are head and shoulders better than the Purdue backcourt of P.J. Thompson and Dakota Mathias. “I feel like guys recognize that and want to be remembered 20 years later when we have so we can tell them that I was one of the Final Four teams and I’m an OR legend”.
In short, the Ducks will be up against it on Saturday if they want to advance to the team’s first Final Four since winning the initial NCAA Tournament in 1939. The Boilermakers shot over 55 percent in the first half – hitting 6-of-13 3-pointers – and led by seven with less than seven minutes remaining, but Kansas’ explosiveness soon sent the crowd into convulsions, closing on a 21-7 run to take a 47-40 halftime lead. The second, and I believe the more reasonable, is that Purdue simply seems to run into the hot team or the team that is a bad matchup for them. They gave up 12 offensive rebounds. That stellar performance followed a 17-point effort in the first-round win.
Mason becomes the sixth player to record at least 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in an NCAA Tournament game since assists became official in 1984.
“Those are the moments he’s been waiting his whole life for”, Edwards said. However, Kansas looked as good as it has all season last week. They were making everything. If both teams had advanced, the Ducks and Jayhawks would have met in the Final Four.
ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Due to geography, Kansas and OR rarely bump into each other when they’re chasing recruits.
Purdue came out of the gates firing. And there was next to nothing the Boilers could do about it. With time running out in the first half, and Purdue hoping to cut a 5-point deficit even further, Lagerald Vick deflected a pass. It was just a matter of time. You get into college basketball as a player, I think, and as a coach, you always dream of going. Just not on this night. “We just didn’t get there”. Both guards are extremely well poised and rarely turn the ball over. Hats off to them. The big man has been the anchor for the Boilermakers inside all season, but they were able to essentially force the big man into being a perimeter player with swarming defense.
“I think it’s the hardest game in the tournament”, the KU coach said Thursday afternoon. It comes down to speed with so many long rebounds. As Swanigan explains about his weight, “It is a lot more expensive to eat healthy than it is to eat unhealthy”. Markkanen got to the free throw line a season-high 10 times against Saint Mary’s, an indication that he is being more aggressive than he was early on in the season. Cincinnati would win only this game and lose in the round of 32. The No. 4 Boilermakers needed to play the flawless game to have any shot to win. “He got a couple steals, his ball-screen defence was good”. They reached the Sweet Sixteen. “It’s good that people believe we should play at a high level”. As a sophomore at Ole Miss his team had one of the most thrilling comebacks of the opening rounds.
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This may be his best, too – better even than his 2008 national title team.
