NCAA Tournament - Arkansas comes back late to send defending champion Kansas home
Yahoo Sports college basketball writer Nick Bromberg takes you through 8-seed Arkansas’ impressive win over 1-seed Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Video Transcript
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NICK BROMBERG: The defending national champions are out of the NCAA tournament. Arkansas beat Kansas 72-71 on Saturday to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive year. Kansas is the second number one seed to exit the tournament in as many days, after Purdue lost a Fairleigh-Dickinson on Friday.
The Razorbacks were down 8 with 12 minutes to go and took the lead less than 4 minutes later, after a 9-0 run gave Arkansas a 52-51 advantage. Ricky Council then made five clutch free throws in the final 24 seconds. After breaking a 67-67 tie, Council missed his second free throw. But Jordan Walsh got a hand on the rebound and the ball pinballed back to Council. He took it to the hoop, got fouled and made two free throws to give Arkansas a 3-point lead.
The loss means Kansas coach Bill Self won't get a chance to coach in the tournament at all. Self missed Kansas two games in Des Moines after he underwent a heart procedure that caused him to miss the entire Big 12 tournament.
Arkansas, meanwhile, is a win away from a third straight trip to the Elite Eight. The Razorbacks had a roller coaster season in the SEC and finished 10th in the conference. But they were a team that played worse than the sum of their parts all season long.
Less than 5% of entries in Yahoo's Tourney Pick 'Em had Arkansas advancing out of the second round.
