Newman scored all 13 of the Jayhawks’ points in overtime en route to a career-high 32 in a 85-81 Elite Eight win.
Omaha, Neb. — Malik Newman and top-seeded Kansas got past their Elite Eight road block on Sunday, knocking off second-seeded Duke 85-81 in overtime in a thrilling Midwest Region finale that clinched the Jayhawks’ first trip to the Final Four since 2012.
Newman scored all 13 of the Jayhawks’ points in overtime and finished with a career-high 32 to lead Kansas (31-7). The Jayhawks will face fellow top seed Villanova in San Antonio on Saturday after snapping a two-game losing skid in the regional finals.
This was college basketball at its best — two blue bloods trading blows for 45 minutes in what was arguably the best game of the tournament so far, one that featured 18 lead changes and 11 ties.
But Newman drilled his fifth and final 3 from the corner to make it 81-78 with 1:49 left. Newman followed with four straight free throws, and the Jayhawks defense stiffened enough to knock the favored Blue Devils out of the tournament.
Trevon Duval scored 20 points for Duke. Freshman star and future lottery pick Marvin Bagley added 16 points and 10 rebounds in what could have been his final game for Duke (29-8), which fell shy its first Final Four trip since winning the national title in 2015.
Grayson Allen had 12 points for the Blue Devils, but the senior’s 10-foot bank shot at the regulation buzzer went in and then out of the rim before spinning away to force overtime.
This might be the unlikeliest of coach Bill Self’s three Final Four squads. They are not stacked with obvious future NBA starters and they lost three times at home this season. But the Jayhawks banded together to win the Big 12’s regular season and conference titles and now the Midwest Region. By doing so, they proved to their coach that they were hardly soft — a claim that Self had made often earlier in the season.
The Blue Devils might see four of their freshman stars bolt for the NBA Draft, an expected exodus led by Bagley, a likely top-five pick. Duke will also lose Allen, one of the best players in school history. Don’t cry for Coach K, who has four five-star recruits committed to join the program next year. But this season will likely be remembered as a lost opportunity for a program that expects to make the Final Four more often than not.
EAST REGION
Villanova 71, Texas Tech 59: In Boston, Villanova leveled opponents with a barrage of offense in notching its first three NCAA Tournament wins.
But it turned out the Wildcats would need their defense to show up to earn their second trip to the Final Four in three seasons.
On a night in which the Wildcats shot its lowest field goal percentage of the season, they turned one of their best defensive efforts in their 71-59 Elite Eight win over Texas Tech on Sunday.
Villanova came into the matchup averaging 87 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the field. With 44 3-pointers, it also entered the afternoon just 11 3s shy of setting a new Division I, single-season record.
But Sunday the Wildcats shot just 19 of 57 from the field against the Red Raiders, while making only four shots from beyond the arc. The field goal percentage was Villanova’s lowest since 2015.
It was clear they were going to have to find another way to win. They found it on the defensive side of the ball.
“We played a really tough basketball team that had us scouted extremely well, took away our 3s, really tested our ability to play tough and ugly,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said.
After falling into early 9-1 hole Villanova held Texas Tech to just 23 points in the opening 20 minutes – a season-low for a half for the Red Raiders.
“We were struggling from the outside. We grinded on the defensive end and that’s what helped us pull this one out,” Villanova guard Jalen Brunson said. “It was just grinding on the defensive end and not really worrying about our shots falling or not.… Just really trying to stick together.”
The Wildcats also notched six steals and outrebounded Texas Tech 51-33, including a 31-22 defensive rebounding edge. It limited the Red Raiders’ second-chance opportunities and left them playing catch-up throughout the second half.
Villanova forward Eric Paschall, who finished with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, said he and his teammates took pride in winning such a physical game.
“It means a lot to us. Just to know that we could tough a game out like that,” he said. “They’re a very talented team. Their defense is great. They have some talented offensive players. Just to be able to do that with my brothers out there is, again, a blessing.… We worked hard all year. We did a great job of it, and we just kept getting better. So it shows that we can fight through a lot. We keep playing for each other.”
Wright said the seeds of Sunday’s defensive effort might have its roots in the Wildcats’ first loss of the season – a 101-93 setback at Butler at the end of December.
The coaching staff knew after that game it was clear that offense alone would not be enough to carry this team to where it wanted to be by season’s end.
“That kind of was a slap in the face to us,” Wright said. “We said at that time, we’re not going to just change this – it’s going to take time. It’s going to go back to basics. It’s going to take a lot of time.… And it’s starting to pay off now at the right time.”
