Kansas holds off Clemson, returns to Elite 8
OMAHA, Neb. — Devonte’ Graham doesn’t know how good he has it. While the senior guard can’t erase the painful memories of Kansas’ past two Elite Eight defeats, his coach, Bill Self, has seven losses in that round he would like to forget.
The Jayhawks star and its coach obviously have a lot riding on Sunday night.
“Certainly it’s etched in the back of my brain, and I’d like nothing more than to take my team this year to San Antonio and let them experience what the best of the best is in college basketball,” Self said after his top-seeded Jayhawks booked a third straight Elite Eight trip with an 80-76 victory over fifth-seeded Clemson in the Midwest Region semifinals in front of a Kansas-heavy crowd at CenturyLink Center.
Kansas (30-7) will get another crack at the Final Four on Sunday — it will face second-seeded Duke, which beat Syracuse on Friday — and unlike last year, it will have the services of 7-foot, 280pound center Udoka Azubuike, offering the Jayhawks the low-post dimension they lacked a season ago in a lopsided loss to Oregon.
“It wasn’t a good feeling,” recalled Azubuike, who missed the game a year ago with a wrist injury. “I’ve thought about that game last year all the time. We’ve been in the Elite Eight three years in a row. We got to get it [done].”
The big and talented Nigerian certainly made a difference Friday night. With Azubuike healthy and in the starting lineup after previously being limited with a knee injury, the Jayhawks showcased their versatility, a potent inside attack to go with their already dynamic perimeter game. Azubuike wreaked havoc against Clemson (25-10), notching 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, as Kansas owned the paint.
That dominance inside left openings on the perimeter, where the Jayhawks hit 10-of-21 3-point attempts, four by red-hot sophomore Malik Newman (16 points).
“[Azubuike] makes everything easier for us,” Graham said. “We get to play off of him. We always say throw the ball inside, play around ‘Doke’ because it’s hard to guard him inside and he can get angles easily. And he opens up shots for us and driving lanes.”
For the second straight game, Graham was off — the Big 12 Player of the Year and Naismith Award finalist scored 16 points, but shot just 4-of-12 from the field and committed three turnovers — and it again didn’t matter, illustrat- ing the Big 12 champion’s depth and explosiveness. Clemson did get within six with 2:30 left on the strength of an 11-2 run, but Graham iced it with a key offensive rebound and four clutch free throws, sending Kansas back to the Elite Eight.
“I think about it all the time,” Graham said of the past two season-ending defeats. “I just told the guys in the locker room, I’ve been here the last two years and this year we got to get over that hump.”
This year, the Jayhawks have gotten better each game, but still haven’t been at their best.
“Hopefully that will come Sunday,” Self said.