Kansas stifles Providence to advance as Elite Eight's lone No. 1 seed

It wasn't pretty.

But Kansas advanced to the Elite Eight on Friday with a grind of a 66-61 win over No. 4 seed Providence. With the victory, the Jayhawks are the only men's No. 1 seed to advance to an NCAA tournament regional final. Baylor, Gonzaga and Arizona were all eliminated short of the Elite Eight.

Providence did a fine job of limiting a Kansas offense that led the Big 12 with 78.7 points per game. It just couldn't muster much offense of its own in a historically stunted first-half effort that produced 17 points, its lowest-scoring first half since 1966.

Despite the stagnant offense, Providence put pressure on after halftime, erasing a 36-23 second-half deficit to take a 48-47 lead with 5:52 remaining. But Kansas countered with a 7-0 run to reassert control. It wouldn't relinquish its lead again.

A long-distance lob from Christian Braun to fellow All Big-12 guard Ochai Agbaji in the game's final minutes helped seal the win for the Jayhawks.

Providence repeatedly fouled late to extend the game, but the Jayhawks hit enough free throws down the stretch to secure victory. Kansas advances to the Midwest regional final to face the winner between Miami and Iowa State. It also picked up the program's 2,354th win to surpass Kentucky as the all-time winningest team in NCAA basketball history.

Remy Martin big again off the bench

Remy Martin starred again for the Jayhawks. The Arizona State transfer who averaged 8.1 points this season led the Kansas effort with 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists off the bench. It was his second straight 20-point effort after tallying 20 points and seven rebounds in a second-round win over Creighton.

Can KU keep up this defense?

A Kansas rotation that went just seven deep got a big defensive effort from fellow reserve Mitch Lightfoot, who tallied five of the Jayhawks' 11 blocked shots on the night. Agbaji secured four blocks from the Kansas backcourt to counter an off-night on offense that saw him tally five points while missing all five of his 3-point attempts. The blocked shots were a signature for Kansas on Friday as the Friars repeatedly met resistance near the basket.

Kansas won despite shooting just 39.3% from the field while hitting 2-of-15 (13.3%) 3-point attempts. It also overcame a first half where it failed to get to the free throw line. It did so by limiting Providence to 33.8% shooting from the field and securing a 44-38 rebounding margin.

The Jaywhawks weren't a bad defensive team during the regular season. They entered Friday ranked 28th in the nation in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency rating. They just built their identity on on the other side of the ball as KenPom's No. 6 team on offense.

If it can keep up the defensive effort it showed on Friday — especially in the first half — there's a good chance Kansas wins three more games to secure a national championship.