sports
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2016
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Sophomore guard Devonte' Graham vells in delight during Kansas' win over UConn on Saturday. With the win, Kansas is headed to the Sweet 16 to take on Maryland.
Missy Minear/KANSAN
▶ SCOTT CHASEN
@SCHasenKU
DES MOINES, Iowa After Michigan State fell to Middle Tennessee State in one of the most shocking upsets in NCAA tournament history, the Kansas players met, informally, to discuss what had happened.
"When I saw them lose, I was telling the guys, 'Don't let it be us,'" senior forward Jamari Travler said.
The message from the meeting was a simple one.
While a meeting like that might seem useless to a typical team, for the last two years, it had been them.
In 2014, an Andrew Wiggins-led Kansas team rolled into St. Louis with high expectations, even without star freshman Joel Embid. That team's run would be short-lived, as Kansas was bounced in the second round by Stanford.
One year later, a depleted Kansas team bowed out in the Round of 32 once again; the culprit was Wichita State.
This year, the situation seemed all-to-familiar. As senior forward Perry Ellis exited the game early, after knocking knees with a UConn player, a hush fell
"What went through my head [...] I see it, and I go, 'Oh shoot,' junior guard Wayne Selden Jr. said. "I kind of said something different."
over the Kansas contingent in the crowd as well as the Kansas bench.
However, there'd be a different script this time. A couple of players went over to check on Ellis and got the good news they were hoping for.
"Me and Wayne were like, 'Ah man, what happened?" sophomore guard Devonte Graham said. "He told us he bumped knees, and we were like, 'Oh, you're alright."
In fact, shortly after he returned to the game, Ellis knocked down a three to cap off a 16-0 Kansas run, as the team took control.
"We were really, really good in the first half," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "We've got four pretty consistent scorers. And if we get three out of four scoring the ball consistently, we've got a chance."
Ellis would end up being more than "alright," scoring 21 points in Kansas' 73-61 win over UConn.
From the start, everything seemed to click. The team was shooting better than 70 percent from three
through the first 10 minutes and held an early 16-6 advantage on the boards.
At that point, junior forward Landen Lucas had as many rebounds as the entire UConn team. After the game he talked about his performance, as well as one particular person in the stands, his mother, who cheered him on the whole way.
I love when [Devonte'] smiles like that. It's so darn cute."
Kansas fan
Courtside at KU vs. UConn
"With the 33 on. Yep that was her," he said. "She's my biggest fan [...] She'll do anything to make sure she sees me play."
In the first half, it seemed as though the entire team was playing like they had family in the crowd. Rebounding, shooting, hustle plays — everything was going Kansas' way, and it just kept building.
As Graham hit a deep jumper to put Kansas up 19, things were starting to come unglued. As the crowd
roared, one Kansas fan courtside turned to another, having to raise her voice to be heard over the crowd.
"I love when he smiles like that," she said. "It's so darn cute."
That smile returned to Graham's face several times over the course of the half, and for good reason. The Jayhawks led by 20 at the intermission, thanks in part to two separate runs, an early 16-0 spurt and a 19-0 one later in the half.
"We executed the gameplan," junior guard Frank Mason III said. "The effort was there. We just did a great job executing what coach wanted."
However, that execution tailed off coming out of the halftime break.
After the intermission, the first five minutes of the second half belonged to UConn, who quickly cut Kansas' lead to 14.
"What I did talk about at halftime was [...] there have been a lot of teams that have played well in the first half and have blown big leads. That's not going to be us," Self said. "That talk went over so well they cut it to single-figures."
Looking for answers,
Self inserted Traylor back
into the game. In the first
half, Traylor recorded a pain
of chasedown blocks that electrified the crowd. Traylor later said he hoped to see them on SportsCenter.
In the second half, Traylor provided somewhat of a spark, recording another block without even jumping, but UConn kept chipping away at the deficit.
Kansas' lead dropped off to 13; the game would get even closer before it was all finished.
"The second half, we didn't do many of the same things we accomplished in the first," Self said. "We became very passive."
After a dunk to pull UConn within single digits, guard Rodney Purvis turned to the UConn fan section and posed. Self called timeout, clearly unhappy with his team.
In fact, just two days earlier, UConn had been in a similar position, battling back in the second half to top eight-seeded Colorado.
But this time, there would be no dream comeback, as Selden and Ellis quickly regained control of the game with three straight buckets.
"We just had to stop playing so flat," Traylor said. "We were playing like we wanted to get the game over with instead of being aggressive and taking it to
them."
As Selden scored his second basket after the timeout, Anthony Pitts — Selden's uncle and internet phenomenon "Uncle Anthony" — flexed behind the Kansas bench.
Pitts' reaction would only become more emphatic as Selden smashed home a one-handed alley-oop that effectively ended the game.
"I got the rebound, and they only had one guy back. I saw Wayne coming down the left side of the court, and I just knew I was going to throw it up to him, and he was going to go get it," Graham said. "I'm pretty sure Ucle Anthony went crazy. He's probably going to be on SportsCenter again."
Selden finished with 22 points, the most he'd scored in any NCAA tournament game in his three years at Kansas.
After the game, it was pointed out to him that he'd been playing better since Pitts had started showing up. Asked if he thought there was anything to that, Selden gave a simple answer.
"I guess he has to keep coming," Selden said.
Selden ends tournament slump with breakout game
Anthony Pitts, Wayne Selden Jr.'s uncle, cheers from behind the KU bench.
Missy Minear/KANSAN
SHANE JACKSON
@jacksonshane3
DES MOINES, Iowa — Junior guard Wayne Selden Jr. let out a huge roar in frustration midway through the first half as he stepped out of bounds. It ruined what would have been a steal and a breakaway finish on the other end.
Instead, Selden continued to run down the court as he would've if play hadn't been stopped, yelling all the while. He stomped on the floor in frustration as he walked back.
Fortunately for Selden and the No.1 Kansas Jayhawks, that was just about the only thing that went wrong in the second round victory over the UConn Huskies, 73-61. In the
"He's as big [of] a key as anybody because he's a guy [who] can go for big numbers," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "He's one of the better guys that we have that can get his own shot."
For the first time in Selden's career, Kansas will be playing basketball in
12-point victory, Selden scored 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor.
the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, rather than watching at home. With the win, the Jayhawks clinched their first Sweet 16 berth since 2013.
"I would be lying if I didn't say it's like a small monkey off our back," Selden said.
Saturday's Sweet 16 clinching victory displayed the growth that Selden has undergone in his Kansas career. The junior guard was criticized by the media for his performance in his first two trips in the NCAA tournament. He scored a combined 10 points in four games in the big dance.
Earlier in the week,盐东 topped that fourgame point total in Kansas' opening round victory over Austin Peay. He scored 12 points taking a small step in his postseason growth.
But on Saturday he leaped to another level, matching his previous tournament total through five games.
In the early going, it was evident Selden was looking to put all that behind him with a strong showing against a perennial program. In the first half, he was being aggressive on the offensive end looking for his shots. On one of the first
He would not stop there.
possession he clapped for the ball, and when he finally got it, he bottomed a trey from the right wing.
He would not stop there. Multiple times he attacked the lane; even if he wasn't finishing at the rim he was drawing contact and getting to the line. In the first half he accumulated 12 points, with four of those coming at the charity stripe.
"The ball stuck a lot today," Self said. "But what we had, we had some individuals step up and make some good plays. I thought him driving the ball, putting pressure on the defense was good."
"He was big. He made some clutch shots down late when we didn't have anything going for us," sophomore guard Devonte'
Selden answered, as he was responsible for the next six points on three consecutive possessions. He recorded a dime to senior forward Perry Ellis for a midrange jumper and followed it up with two aggressive drives and finishes in the lane.
Things were not so easy in the second half. UConn chipped away at a 20-point halftime deficit, ultimately cutting it to nine points with nine minutes to go in the game.
Graham said.
From there Kansas never looked back as the margin never fell below nine.
But before the final buzzer sounded, Selden ended his night with a monster slam off a lob from Graham. Afterwards he turned towards the bench and posed a bit, as Wells Fargo Arena erupted in cheers.
Graham admitted after the game that he thought that his pass might have been a bit off the mark.
"At first I was thinking I threw it too far. But he can go up and get it. You can throw it anywhere and he can go get it." Graham said.
Selden on the other hand was more than pleased with Graham's pass.
"I thought he threw it up just fine. He did the hard part, I did the easy part," Selden said.
The two can further debate the play on the bus ride home, a ride that Selden admitted he is looking forward to having after the last couple trips back home.
"I've never rode back on a win in this place, so it's going to feel good," Selden said. "There was a little celebration in here for getting over the hump. But we want more."
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