Arkansas upsets 1-seed Kansas, advances to Sweet Sixteen
Eric Musselman and his Arkansas Razorbacks are the talk of March once again.
Arkansas took down the 1-seed Kansas Jayhawks with a 72-71 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, to advance to a third straight Sweet 16.
Behind a 25-point performance from junior guard Davonte Davis, the Razorbacks were able to take down the defending national champions and secure a victory over a 1-seed team for the second straight season in the NCAA Tournament.
"This team has struggled," Davis said after the game. "And we figured it out. And I'm glad we did at the right time. And hopefully we continue to do it."
Junior Ricky Council IV was clutch down the stretch after Davis fouled out, as he knocked down five free throws in the final 23 seconds to give his team a chance at victory.
After being down by eight at halftime and trialing by as much as 12 in the second half, the Razorbacks completed the comeback and gave the Jayhawks their first loss of the season after leading at halftime.
"I've been coaching a long time," Musselman said. "That's as great a win as I've ever been a part of."
Here's a recap of Saturday's win over Kansas, which marked Arkansas' first NCAA Tournament win over the Jayhawks in program history.
After Arkansas opened the scoring with a jumper from Council, Kansas scored nine straight to take a 9-2 lead. Nick Smith Jr. had two fouls by the 16:37 mark and Anthony Black limped to the bench on a tweaked ankle going into the first media timeout.
The Razorbacks missed six straight field goals after Council's initial jumper, but a pair of layups from Black and Jordan Walsh came in the midst of a Kansas field goal drought to trim the Jayhawks' lead to 13-6 with 11:55 to play in the first half.
While the Razorbacks cut the Kansas lead to five with just under eight minutes left in the opening half, they were throwing up too many threes instead of driving inside, as they were 1-of-7 from deep by that point.
Arkansas made it a three-point Kansas lead with a Walsh dunk, but the Jayhawks didn't let it stay close for long as they pushed their advantage back to eight by the 3:46 mark.
A quick 6-2 Razorback run was followed by a timeout from Kansas coach Norm Roberts with a minute to play. The timeout worked, as the Jayhawks hit a shot on the ensuing offensive possession, which resulted in a 35-27 lead at halftime for the boys in blue.
The difference at the break was eight more points in the paint and a 6-0 advantage in fastbreak scoring for Kansas. The rest of the game on paper was even for the most part, and Arkansas even had a plus-two margin on the boards.
Arkansas made it a four-point game right out of the locker room, but the Jayhawks countered with an 11-3 run to take an 12-point lead by the first media timeout — their largest of the game to that point.
After Kansas big men Ernest Udeh Jr. and KJ Adams Jr. both earned four fouls each, the Razorbacks started to take advantage by driving inside. Davis scored nine of 11 points during an 11-5 run to give Arkansas momentum and make it a 51-45 game.
The Razorbacks made it a 51-49 game after a pair of free throws from Davis, who picked up his fourth foul shortly after. A three from Walsh sent the Razorback faithful in attendance on their feet and gave the Hogs a 52-51 lead with 8:51 to play.
Makhi Mitchell fouled out of the game with 7:16 remaining to take one of Arkansas' key paint players out of the fold.
Playing with four fouls himself, Davis went north to south to convert a tough layup and tie the game at 61-61, but a Kevin McCullar Jr. 3-pointer touched nothing but the net to put the Jayhawks ahead by three at the final media timeout.
A fadeaway jumper from Council knotted things back up at 65-65 and Roberts called for a Kansas timeout with 1:29 to play to talk things over with his squad.
Both teams traded a pair of points and then Council drew a foul with 23.7 seconds to go to the line. After hitting the first, he missed the second, grabbed his offensive rebound and drew another foul. He hit both of the ensuing free throws to put Arkansas ahead 70-67.
Kansas' Jalen Wilson was fouled by Walsh — his fifth — and he hit both free throws to keep Kansas within one point with eight seconds to play. The Jayhawks fouled right away and Council once again went to the line and made both shots, which proved to be enough as the Hogs won 72-71.
Up next, the Razorbacks will travel T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where they will face the winner of UConn and Saint Mary's on Thursday.
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