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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017
'We just came up short': KU season ends in Elite Eight
Missy Minear/KANSAN Freshman guard Josh Jackson drives to the basket in the second half against Oregon on March 25. The Jayhawks fell to the Ducks, 74-60.
SKYLAR ROLSTAD @SkyRolSports
ANSAS CITY, Mo. — An opportunity for Kansas' 15th Final Four appearance slipped away as the top-seeded Jayhawks missed crucial shots in a comeback attempt.
The Jayhawks' season ended, Kansas coach Bill Self lost his fifth career Elite Eight game in seven tries, and the team was eliminated Saturday night at Sprint Center. The Oregon Ducks, instead, head to the Final Four out of the Midwest region, 74-60.
"These guys put us in a situation to play for the highest stakes, and today we just came up short," Self said. "But the one thing that did happen today, it's hard to admit, the best team did win today. Today, I don't think we ever really gave our — put our best foot forward like we have very consistently all season long."
A desperation foul from junior guard Svi Mykhailiuk spelled defeat for Kansas in the final minute. Oregon guard Tyler Dorsey made both free throws. Though Kansas fans stayed to the end, Sprint Center grew quiet aside from cheers of "Let's Go Ducks" in the minuscule green rectangle of Oregon fans.
With the loss, Kansas' quest to leave Kansas City with a regional title failed. About 15 minutes prior to the final buzzer, Sprint Center boomed with the cheers of Kansas fans trying to will a comeback.
"It felt like we were right there every time we would take a rebound," junior
guard Devonte' Graham said.
A comeback for the Jayhawks looked possible when Kansas trailed only six points with just under three minutes left. The persistent scoring — the dagger threes from a talented Ducks backcourt — ensured it wasn't going to happen.
"It wasn't from a lack of— I can't believe how hard our guys tried," Self said. "We just couldn't really get out of our own way today very well."
Oregon finished the game shooting 51 percent and 44 percent from three.
Senior guard Frank Mason III carried the team but didn't have the scoring support early on.
"When we just don't have it sometimes, Frank is always there to carry us," freshman guard Josh Jackson said.
Today, I don't think we ever really gave our put our best foot forward like we have very consistently all season long."
Bill Self Kansas Coach
Mason finished with 21 points, but only four in the
second half. The second half, however, was when Mason's teammates improved.
"I think we started the game really tight," Mason said. "We didn't take good shots... we should have just moved the ball and draw the ball downhill and created easy shots for each other."
The Josh Jackson that Kansas fans have learned to expect appeared in the second half. After a scoreless first half, Jackson heated up in the second frame and finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Jackson struggled mightily to contain Oregon forward Jordan Bell on defense. Bell scored 11 points and hauled in 13 rebounds on the night. He added eight
Jackson's impact was limited from the start. He picked up two early fouls that forced him to the bench.
blocks.
"It took me out of a rhythm, made it harder for me to get into a rhythm when I got back into the game," Jackson said. "I was playing a little bit timid, just worried about picking up a third foul. I couldn't be as aggressive as I wanted to be."
Kansas took to the locker room at halftime under an ominous 11-point deficit. While Kansas ended the first half with two turnovers, Oregon finished the period with two Dorsey three-pointers. The Ducks played best all night at the end of the shot
clock.
"Kind of deflating when they throw up something with one second left on the clock and bank it in or get an offensive rebound off it and they hit a three," Graham said. "That's just stuff that kinda killed us."
Oregon's Dorsey shot 4-of-6 from three during the first half. The Ducks shot 40 percent from three in the first half.
And so concludes a National Player of the Year campaign and Kansas career for Mason. The Towsoncommit-turned-star ended the season averaging 20.9 points, 5.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game.
Kansas coach Bill Self sent Mason and senior center Landen Lucas off with his thoughts on their careers.
"Frank had the best year of anybody I've ever coached, and he's as tough as anybody I've ever coached," Self said. "He loves this place as much as anybody I've ever coached, and I hurt for [the seniors]. Certainly, they've left their legacy and certainly should be very proud of their accomplishments."
On Lucas, Self added: "Landen has had an unbelievable last two and a half years playing for us, unbelievable, and he does so many things that doesn't get recognized."
The Ducks will head to their first Final Four since 1939. The Jayhawks missed out on their first Final Four since 2012.
"We felt like we had all the pieces to the puzzle and we just didn't get to the Final Four." Graham said. "And today we just came up short."
Just: Frank Mason III deserved a Final Four, not this
@Amie_Just
AMIE JUST
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Frank Mason III didn't deserve his college career to end like this.
The tenacious buldog of a senior guard shouldn't have to feel like his life is over. He shouldn't have to fight back tears and congratulate another team on a Final Four berth. But alas, here we are. Mason's slightly inaccurate Wikipedia page was changed minutes after the final buzzer, reading: "Frank Marvin Mason III is an American basketball player who played for the University of Kansas. He was the starting point guard for the Jayhawks."
Missy Minear/KANSAN
Senior guard Frank Mason III gets fouled on the shot late in the first half against Oregon in the Elite Eight on March 25. The Jayhawks fell to the Ducks, 74-60.
As sad as that is, Mason's middle name isn't actually Marvin; it's Leo.
In other words, we've arrived at the end. A wrongful end, but the end, nonetheless.
Mason's myriad accomplishments is nothing to shake a stick at.
Off the court, he's the inspiration for two rap songs, a unifying not-safe-for-work social media hashtag and the name of an actual bulldog. On the court, he was named Big 12 Player of the Year and is likely to take home multiple National Player of the Year distinctions during the Final Four weekend.
But Mason has said
time and time again that he doesn't care about accolades. He wanted the Final Four. He wanted a team trophy. He wanted a ring and a banner. Not for him, but for the team.
"It would mean a lot to me," Mason said on Friday of possibly making a Final Four. "But it's not all about me. It's about my team. I think it would mean more to everyone else than me. [I] just want to see my teammates happy, fans and family, so whatever to do to make that happen, that's what we need to do."
Over Mason's four years, happiness wasn't the resounding emotion at season's end.
[ ] just want to see my teammates happy, fans and family, so whatever to do to make that happen, that's what we need to do."
Frank Mason III Senior guard
Kansas has faced early exits in the NCAA tournament at the hands of Stanford, Wichita State, Villanova, and, now, Oregon. All four years had similar stings, but this last one has pain that shoots the strongest.
After the devastating loss to Villanova, there was at least one more year. This go around, it's over. It's done. Frank Mason III's eligibility has officially run out. And it's a shame.
Five players sit ahead of Mason on the Kansas all-time points leaders list: Danny Manning, Nick Collison, Raef LaFrentz, Clyde Lovellette and Sherron Collins. Mason joins only one of them — LaFrentz — in having not made a Final Four.
"Frank had the best year of anybody I've ever coached," Kansas coach Bill Self said after the loss. "And he's as tough as anybody I've ever coached. He loves his place as much as anybody I've ever coached and I hurt for [him]."
It's hard to summarize Mason's contributions to Kansas basketball. Recency bias is certainly at play here, but it's not far off the mark to immediately consider him as one of the greatest of all-time to don the crimson and blue, possibly the best to not play the final weekend of the NCAA tournament.
This season alone, Mason averaged 20.9 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.2 rebounds. He's the first player in Big 12 history to finish a season
averaging 20 points and five assists. Mason played more than 1,300 minutes this season: a feat that only three Jayhawks have done. The other two — Danny Manning and Tyshawn Taylor — did so with 38- and 39-game Final Four and National Championship appearance seasons compared to Mason's 36-game season.
Because of these efforts and more, he could become Kansas' first consensus National Player of the Year.
"I gave it my all every day and I'm a Jayhawk for life," Mason said at the end of locker room availability.
One player can't do it all, but Frank Mason III sure ruled.
No. o has definitely proven that. But unfortunately for Mason' and Co., absurd statistics and inhuman athleticism can fall victim to the merciless NCAA tournament. The NCAA tournament takes pity on no one and rarely plays favorites. There's no remorse. It's unforgiving and heartless. With only one winner, in the end, everyone else goes home with shredded hearts, tear-stained cheeks, and unachieved goals.
His 753 season points
You can't say Mason doesn't have the heart. The tears he shed on Senior Night prove just how much the otherwise un-outwardly emotional leader cares about Kansas.
It's wrong that Mason's college career ends like this. It's a damn shame that the best collegiate player in America isn't suiting up on April 1.
accounted for 25 percent of Kansas' scoring efforts on the season. And his 21 points in the Elite Eight made up more than a third of the Jayhawks final score.
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