Kansas Holds Off Late Rally By Clemson To Advance To The Elite Eight

This coaching job by Bill Self, man. I know people have takes about him, especially regarding losses in the NCAA Tournament, but this is the best coaching job he’s done. This was supposed to be a down year for Kansas. The Jayhawks weren’t supposed to win the Big 12. They weren’t supposed to be a 1 seed. They weren’t supposed to be in the Elite Eight and here they are after a 80-76 win over Clemson.

I’ll give Clemson credit here. Kansas was up 20 in the second half and looked prime to turn this into a complete blowout. But, they kept chipping away as Gabe DeVoe was damn good finishing with 31 points and cut the lead to seven. That’s sort of defined Clemson this year. They were a surprise team this year and despite losing Donte Grantham, they were able to make the Sweet 16 and battle Kansas.

This was a balanced attack for Kansas as Devonte’ Graham didn’t have a necessarily great game. He finished with 14 points but was just 4-for-12 from the field. However, Azubuike, Newman and Vick all had at least 13 points while De Sousa and Svi had 9 each. That’s sort of what Kansas will do to you here. They’ll attack you and beat you from behind the arc (10-for-23 tonight) and they’ll get the ball to whoever is feeling it at the moment.

Kansas now moves on to play the winner of Duke/Syracuse on Sunday in Omaha.