Jayhawks hold off Blue Devils in OT to clinch final berth
MIDWEST REGIONAL FINAL (1) KANSAS ............................ 85 (2) DUKE ........................ 81 (OT)
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OMAHA, Neb. — Kansas is going back to the Final Four.
It’s hard to argue that Duke shouldn’t be headed there as well after the most riveting show of the NCAA Tournament.
Malik Newman and the top-seeded Jayhawks got past their Elite Eight roadblock Sunday, knocking off the secondseeded Blue Devils 85-81 in overtime to clinch the program’s first trip to the Final Four since 2012.
Newman scored all 13 of Kansas’ points in OT and finished with a careerhigh 32.
The Jayhawks (31-7) will face fellow top seed Villanova on Saturday in San Anto-
nio — the site of Kansas’ last title over Memphis in 2008 — after snapping a two-game losing skid in the regional finals.
“Everything we’ve been through … we do it for moments like this,” Jayhawks star Devonte’ Graham said. “Especially after the last two years, getting over the hump. It just feels (perfect).”
One of tourney’s best games
This was college basketball at its best — two blue bloods trading blows for 45 minutes in what was arguably the best game of March and 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 the River Walk.
But it didn’t, and instead the Jayhawks are moving on.
“It was an honor to play in this game,” said Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, who remained tied with UCLA legend John Wooden with 12 Final Four performances. “I think both teams were deserving of winning.”
Newman, a redshirt sophomore who came on late this season, drilled his fifth and final 3 from the corner to make it 81-78 with 1:49 remaining. Newman followed with four consecutive free throws, and Kansas’ defense stiffened enough to knock favored Duke out of the Tournament.
Trevon Duval scored 20 points, two shy of a career high, for the Blue Devils. Freshman star and future lottery pick Marvin Bagley added 16 points and 10 rebounds in what could have been his final game for Duke (29-8), which fell shy of its first Final Four trip since winning the national title in 2015.
Buzzer-beater just misses
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,” said Allen, who finished his brilliant career with 1,996 points. “Went back left. Their big stepped in to help. I had to get a shot up over him. I tried to bank it in and it about went in.”
This might be the unlikeliest of coach Bill Self’s three Final Four squads. The Jayhawks are not stacked with obvious future NBA starters, and they lost three times at home this season.
But they banded together to win the Big 12’s regular-season and conference tournament titles and now the Midwest Regional.
And by doing so, they proved to their coach that they were hardly soft — a claim Self had made often during the season.
And with the final buzzer about to sound and the outcome suddenly in focus, Self clenched his fists and lifted his arms in the air for a celebration years in the making.
Duval was a revelation in the opening half, scoring 13 points to give Duke a 36-33 lead that at times felt like it could have been bigger. But Kansas opened the second with a 13-3 run, forcing Duke to answer quickly. The Blue Devils did just that, time and again, until they had the lead in the final minute.
Mykhailiuk’s big 3
But Jayhawks senior Svi Mykhailiuk drilled a 3-pointer with 25.7 seconds remaining in the second half to knot the game at 72.
Lagerald Vick had 14 points, Graham had 11 with six boards and six assists for Kansas, and Mykhailiuk had 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while helping defend Bagley.
“Even though Malik scored a lot of points, I don’t think that anybody had a better game than Svi did,” Self said.