March Madness: Eighth-seeded Arkansas ousts defending champ Kansas

DES MOINES,Iowa (AP) — Eric Musselman and his players rushed across the floorat the final buzzer to celebrate with their joyfully deliriousfriends from Arkansas.

The58-year-old coach jumped onto the press table, ripped off his redpolo shirt and waved it over his head, shouting all the while tothe fans’ delight, as has become his tradition after the biggest ofhis wins.

And this wasa really big one.

Kansas’national title defense ended in the second round of the NCAATournament on Saturday when Arkansas’ Ricky Council IV made fivefree throws in the closing seconds and the eighth-seeded Razorbacksbeat the No. 1 seed Jayhawks 72-71.

“I would loveto lie and say that I felt composed, but we only led for 1:43,” hesaid. “This has been as challenging and as up-and-down a season asI’ve ever been a part of.

“For theseguys to be rewarded for sticking with it and being able to go toLas Vegas and participate with only 16 teams still standing. ...It’s really hard to make this tournament. It’s really hard to win agame in this tournament. It’s really hard to beat defendingchampions, No. 1 seed. We did it.”

Arkansas wasplaying a No. 1 seed for the third straight year. Last year, theRazorbacks knocked out Gonzaga on the way to their second straightElite Eight. This time, the Razorbacks survived shaky offensiveplay early and foul trouble late. They became the first team tobeat a No. 1 seed with three players fouling out, accordingtoOptaSTATS.

“That’s suchan unbelievable win for our program,” Musselman said. “I keeptelling people that we’re getting better. Not many teams can getbetter this time of year. I’ve never been prouder of a team liketonight.”

Davonte Davisscored 25 points and Council added 21 as Arkansas rallied from a12-point second-half deficit. Kansas,playing without ailing coach BillSelf,became the second top seed not to escape thetournament’s first weekend after Purdue lost on Friday night to No.16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson.

Arkansas(22-13) is in the Sweet 16 for the third straight year and willplay either Saint Mary’s or UConn in the West Region semifinals inLas Vegas on Thursday.

Self has beenwith the Jayhawks (28-8) since they arrived in Des Moines and hasattended practices and meetings, but he still didn’t feel wellenough to coach a game after having a heart procedure March 8 toclear clogged arteries.

Longtimeassistant Norm Roberts was acting coach for a fifth straight gamein Self’s absence.

Kansas,bidding to become the first repeat national champion since Floridain 2006-07, was ahead 35-27 at halftime and lost for the first timein 27 games when entering the second half with a lead. Kansas hadbeen 47-0 in the NCAA Tournament when leading by eight points ormore at the half.

“Our guyshave been terrific all year,” Roberts said. “They fought to thevery end, made huge plays. It was tough not having Coach here, butwe don’t make any excuses. We have to line up and get it done, andwe came up a little bit short today.”

Davis scored21 of his points in the second half. He fouled out with 1:56 left,turning things over to the veteran Council, a transfer from WichitaState who scored nine of the Razorbacks’ final 11 points.

“This teamwas struggling and we figured it out,” Davis said. “I’m glad we didat the right time. Hopefully we continue to do it.”

Outside thelocker room, a sobbing Musselman hugged Davis and shouted, “I(expletive) love you, man!”

Council’sfree throw put Arkansas ahead to stay, 68-67, with 24 seconds left.He then rebounded his own miss of the second free throw and madetwo more to give the Razorbacks a three-point lead.

The teamstraded free throws, and Arkansas sent Kansas’ Jalen Wilson to theline with 3 seconds left to prevent a potential tying 3-pointer.Wilson made the first free throw and appeared to try to miss thesecond intentionally, but it banked hard off the glass and in, andKansas never regained possession.

Wilson ledthe Jayhawks with 20 points but lamented grabbing only fourrebounds, which he said was a factor in Arkansas holding a 15-2advantage in second-chance points. No missed rebound hurt more, hesaid, than when Kansas failed to grab the ball off Council’s missedfree throw in the waning seconds.

“It alwayscomes down to one play, especially hustle plays like that,” Wilsonsaid. “It’s just disappointing to end like that, especially withhow great our year was. Credit to them for how they played.”

Arkansas,which beat Illinois in the firstround,was considered a scary matchup for the Jayhawkswith its explosive transition game and ability to play lockdowndefense.

Butcircumstances were less than ideal for the Razorbacks. GuardAnthony Black tweaked a nagging ankle injury early and went to thebench to get re-taped and change shoes, and fellow guard andprojected high NBA first-round draft pick Nick Smith Jr. picked uptwo quick fouls and was limited to 10 minutes and no points in thefirst half. Also, big man Kamani Johnson was ill and played with asore toe.

TheRazorbacks were too eager to shoot 3-pointers early. They missed 8of 9 in the first half and couldn’t get their running gamegoing.

Kansas was incontrol for stretches but never could put away the Razorbacks.

Davis starteda game-turning 11-0 Arkansas run in the middle of the second halfand Jordan Walsh’s 3-pointer with eight minutes left gave theRazorbacks their first lead since their first basket of thegame.

Arkansasneutralized Wilson when it mattered most, allowing the All-Americanonly two shots over a 15-minute stretch of the second half.

Arkansas isin the Sweet 16 for the 14th time. The only lower-seeded Razorbacksteam to reach a regional semifinal was the 1996 squad, which was aNo. 12 under Nolan Richardson, who led the school to its onlynational title two years earlier.

If Musselmanreaches his first Final Four, he will evoke more memories of thoseglory years.