Kansas surges past Duke in overtime
Jayhawks headed to Alamodome
OMAHA, Neb. — Kansas, which won the NCAA men’s basketball championship in 2008 in San Antonio, is headed back to the Alamodome 10 years later for a shot at another title.
It’s hard to argue that Duke shouldn’t be headed there as well after the most riveting show of the NCAA Tournament.
The Jayhawks (31-7), the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional for the third straight year, put to rest any talk of an Elite Eight hex by downing No. 2 seed Duke 85-81 in overtime in the Midwest Regional final on Sunday at CenturyLink Center.
Malik Newman scored a career-high 32 points (26 in the second half and all 13 in overtime), including a three from the corner that gave KU an 81-78 lead with 1:39 left in OT.
It was a performance for the ages. That three gave KU the lead for good, and Newman followed it with four free throws down the stretch to keep the Jayhawks in front.
The Jayhawks will face fellow top seed Villanova on Saturday in San Antonio — the site of KU’s last title over Memphis in 2008 — after snapping a twogame losing skid in the regional finals.
“Everything we’ve been through … we do it for moments like this,” Kansas star Devonte’ Graham said. “Especially after the last two years, getting over
the hump. It just feels (perfect).”
This was college basketball at its best, two blue bloods trading blows for 45 minutes in what was arguably the best game of March so far, one that featured 18 lead changes and 11 ties.
Had Grayson Allen’s bank shot to end regulation gone half an inch in a different direction, it might be Duke heading to South Texas.
But it didn’t, and instead the Jayhawks are moving on to play for the program’s fourth championship next weekend.
“It was an honor to play in this game,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who remained tied with UCLA legend John Wooden with 12 Final Four performances. “I think both teams were deserving of winning.”
Lagerald Vick added 14 points and Svi Mykhailiuk 11, including a big three that tied the game at 72 near the end of regulation for Kansas. He also guarded future lottery pick Marvin Bagley, who scored 16 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Blue Devils.
Trevon Duval scored 20 points, two shy of a career high, for Duke.
Allen had 12 points for the Blue Devils, but the senior’s try at the regulation buzzer went in and then out and then off the rim before spinning away to force overtime.
“I was trying to drive right, he cut me off. Went back left. Their big stepped into help. I had to get a shot up over him. I tried to bank it in and it about went in,” said Allen, who finished his brilliant career with 1,996 points.
The Jayhawks, who fell to Villanova and Oregon in the Elite Eight the past two postseasons, improved to 3-5 in regional finals under 15th-year coach Bill Self.
KU claimed its first Final Four berth since 2012, when the Jayhawks lost in the title game to Kentucky. This might be the unlikeliest of Self’s three Final Four squads. They are not stacked with obvious future NBA starters and they lost three times at home this season. But the Jayhawks banded together to win the Big 12’s regular season and conference titles and proved to their coach that they were hardly soft — a claim that Self had made often earlier in the season.