It was a frustrating night for a team that had done so much this season, but still wanted more.
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That defense only got better in the second half, and the Jayhawks showed why they should be considered a legitimate threat to cut down the nets at the end of this tournament.
There isn’t much left for Purdue, other than to shrug their shoulders.
Prove it could not only contend for a Big Ten Conference championship, but win it.
“In our house it’s interesting too because she is nearly a bigger fan than I am in basketball”. Even if Swanigan leaves, the Boilermakers will have a nice core to build around.
All of the above were accomplished, and yet, it was hard to reconcile so many successes against such a resolution.
“We know it’ll be hostile there, but we can draw energy from that”, center Isaac Haas said via Twitter. “I was a liability on the floor”, Brooks said.
“Obviously it’s tough to lose like that”.
Kansas just kept scoring and scoring in the second half.
Kansas seemed to make every shot it took as the lead grew exponentially, Purdue struggling to find ways to just not make it worse. It will be fun to watch his game continue to grow as his career progresses.
So, the question remains: Are there any places where the Jayhawks are vulnerable?
It eventually became a 17-3 run by Kansas for a six-point lead before P.J. Thompson’s layup drew Purdue within 42-38.
Season leaders for Kansas include Frank Mason III. They’ve proven, time and again this season, that they are good enough to play with the best of the best even if their roster, on paper, doesn’t look that way. Vincent Edwards hit the bench with two early fouls, a lid covered the rim, and the Jayhawks clamped down on post entry passes. The freshman star is knocking on the door of the top-five in the NBA Draft this June, and could keep rising with more great play against Xavier.
Kansas was too good, too athletic, too everything.
Kid Reporter Wilson von Bohlen reported from the first- and second-round NCAA tournament games in Milwaukee last weekend.
“He deserves that because it’s been a rough go for him”, Self said. Haas previously said he didn’t plan to go through the National Basketball Association evaluations unless he was planning to leave.
“I’m looking forward to doing that”, Haas said. We’ve been able to dominate the boards in our first two games but they did a good job on the glass. The rest of the way, Kansas outscored Purdue 73-33. The extra attention did yield a couple of steals from the helping defender.
“Anytime you had the season that Kansas has had, you’ve earned the right to be as close to home as possible”, Purdue coach Matt Painter said. The Boilermakers are now 19-10-2 against the spread this season as well.
It worked there for a minute. “Our long shots that we missed led to scores”. The game felt over, and it was. But the Jayhawks, with their four-guard lineup, brashly turned up the tempo, wore the big fellas down and rolled right on through to the Elite Eight.
But it’s not all about the starters for Kansas.
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It brought the Sprint Center – filled overwhelmingly with Kansas fans – to a deafening roar, and it snuffed any life out of Purdue’s upset hopes. “They’re not on the court, it’s you on the court”. So far Butler has the fourth-best three-point shooting (47.1%) in this year’s March Madness of any team who has played at least two games. What had been a competitive Sweet 16 game between the two teams devolved into a blowout that had started to feel inevitable, and when the dust settled, Kansas’ victory margin was 32 points: 98-66.
