No. 1 Kansas sent packing

Princeton moves into Sweet 16

Eric Musselman and his players rushed across the floor at the final buzzer to celebrate with their joyfully delirious friends from Arkansas.

The 58-year-old coach jumped onto the press table, ripped off his red polo shirt and waved it over his head, shouting all the while to the fans’ delight, as has become his tradition after the biggest of his wins.

And this was a really big one.

Kansas’ national title defense ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday when Arkansas’ Ricky Council IV made five free throws in the closing seconds and the eighth-seeded Razorbacks beat the No. 1 seed Jayhawks, 72-71, in a West Region second round game.

“That’s such an unbelievable win for our program,” Musselman said. “I keep telling people that we’re getting better. Not many teams can get better this time of year.”

Davonte Davis scored 25 points and Council added 21 as Arkansas (22-13) rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit. Kansas (28-8), playing without ailing coach Bill Self, became the second top seed not to escape the tournament’s first weekend after Purdue lost on Friday night to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson.

Other West Region UCLA68, Northwestern 63:

The second-seeded Bruins (30-5) squeaked past the seventh-seeded Wildcats (22-11) behind Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s 24 points.

South Region

Princeton 78, Missouri 63: Blake Peters made five 3pointers in the second half and the 15th-seeded Tigers (23-8) shocked another power conference team to reach the regional semifinals for the first time in 56 years by beating No. 7 seed Missouri at Sacramento, Calif. Princeton will play the winner of Sunday’s Baylor-Creighton game in the Sweet 16 at Louisville, Ky.

San Diego State 75, Furman 52: The fifth-seeded Aztecs (29-6) had little trouble ousting the 13th-seeded Paladins (28-8), who were coming of their first-round upset against No. 2 seed Arizona. Micah Parrish’s 16 points led a balanced scoring attack for San Diego State.

Midwest Region

Houston 81, Auburn 64: The top-seeded Cougars (333) erased a 10-point halftime deficit to surge past the ninthseeded Tigers (21-13). AllAmerica guard Marcus Sasser, who had to leave Houston’s first-round victory because of a recurring groin problem, scored 22 points.

East Region

Tennessee 65, Duke 52: Olivier Nkamhoua tied his career high with 27 points, including 13 in a row for Tennessee during a decisive span in the second half, and the fourth-seeded Volunteers (2510) beat the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (27-9) at Orlando, Fla., to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.