But Wayne Selden scored back-to-back hoops in the lane, Perry Ellis followed with a dunk and the Huskies would never get closer. “They battled and they were resilient and you know they just kept fighting and that’s the one thing I take from them”.
Advertisement
Kansas and CT recognized that in each other as they played the second game last night, following Indiana-Kentucky.
Kansas won the game 73-61 and punched its ticket to the Sweet 16.
For the Huskies, Sterling Gibbs and Rodney Purvis combined for 37 points, but did so on just 11-of-25 from the floor. KU came out firing in the first half as they had runs of 16-0 and 19-0.
But after shooting better than 55 percent in the first half, the Jayhawks regressed and returned flat, opening the second half 2-of-12 to allow UConn to claw back.
Thomas Bryant had 13 points and Troy Williams added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Hoosiers (26-7), who had their high-powered offense in prime form.
Daniel Hamilton played 38 minutes and had 17 points in the game as he shot 50% from the field to also help the Huskies secure a date against the Jayhawks. As much as the trio of Devonte’ Graham, Frank Mason III and Wayne Selden Jr. hog the highlights and get this team going, Ellis will be a significant part of the scouting report for the Huskies (25-10). “We haven’t gotten past this point the last two years and we are excited to keep going”.
Kansas now advances to face the victor of (5) Maryland vs. (13) Hawaii in the Sweet 16 on Thursday in Louisville, KY. “I was satisfied and happy with our fight in the second half, but I think we should have come out with more intensity in the first half”. The Jayhawks took a 48-28 lead into halftime.
Each of those flameouts was hampered by key injuries late in the season, influenced by the flux of youth and one-and-dones on the roster, and, in hindsight, Self’s regrets that he got away from a formula that he long has favored for postseason success: having multiple point guards in the lineup at the same time.
UConn will re-stock with a talented recruiting class, led by McDonald’s All-America point guard Alterique Gilbert, as well as talented forward Terry Larrier, who sat out this season as a VCU transfer.
“We just want to continue to play the way we are”, said Ellis, the smooth senior power forward who hit 20-plus points for the sixth time in seven games.
Josh Scott had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the No. 8 Buffaloes (22-12), finishing 0-3 in the NCAA Tournament in his career.
Domantas Sabonis had 19 points and 10 rebounds and 11th-seeded Gonzaga routed third-seeded Utah in a Midwest Region second-round game in Denver.
Kansas still needs four more wins to earn its ultimate goal, but it didn’t need to expend much energy to chalk up the first two.
The No. 1-seeded Jayhawks, though, cleared a lower hurdle Saturday night that was just as important.
Niang, the winningest player (97) in Cyclones history and Iowa State’s only two-time All-American, was simply too much for the 12th-seeded Trojans of the Sun Belt. To meet this early in the big dance puts some added intensity of the second round game.
Advertisement
Stony Brook opened the game with an epic stretch of bad shooting, hitting just three baskets in 27 tries with 14 straight misses at one point. That is a winning streak of 14 games.
