The Kansas Jayhawks pulled away from the Creighton Bluejays in the final minute of their second-round matchup for a 79-72 victory, narrowly avoiding the fate of fellow No. 1 seed Baylor. The Bears were upset by No. 8 North Carolina on the same court just hours before.
From the opening tip, the Jayhawks and Bluejays seemed determined to give fans in Dickies Arena an encore from the Baylor-North Carolina thriller.
With second-leading scorer Ryan Kalkbrenner sidelined after suffering a knee injury in the Bluejays’ first-round win over San Diego State, Creighton once again proved their ability to adjust in a season plagued by injuries. They opened the first half with three 3-pointers and led 13-7, their largest lead of the afternoon, less than five minutes into the half.
The Jayhawks were unfazed, rattling off seven-straight points to take the lead. This back-and-forth went on for the remainder of the first half as neither team was able to create separation. Kansas entered the locker room with a one-point lead, charged by Remy Martin’s 16 first-half points off the bench.
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Creighton never regained the lead after returning from the break, but they stuck around to give Kansas a serious scare.
Every time Kansas seemed poised to stretch their lead, the Bluejays had a response, usually through the hands of freshman Arthur Kaluma. Kaluma and fellow freshman teammate Trey Alexander teamed up to score the first seven points of the half for Creighton. Meanwhile, Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji -- currently projected to be a lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft -- recovered from a quiet first half as the Jayhawks built a six-point lead with 14 minutes remaining.
Just when it looked like the game might be slipping out of reach for Creighton, guard Alex O’Connell made two free throws and a 3-pointer off the rebound to cut the lead to one and force Kansas head coach Bill Self to call a timeout.
After Kaluma hit a 3 to make the score 58-55, Kansas went on an 8-2 run capitalized by a 3-pointer for Jalen Coleman Lands.
This run gave the Jayhawks a nine-point lead -- their largest of the day -- prompting Creighton head coach Greg McDermott to call a timeout of his own.
The Bluejays wasted no time out of the huddle, scoring five-straight points to cut the lead to 62-66. Christian Braun responded with five points of his own for Kansas.
Down seven, Creighton's KeyShawn Feazell stripped Martin in transition, looking ahead to forward Ryan Hawkins who took it coast-to-coast for the easy lay-in. This broke a 24-minute drought for Hawkins who is Creighton’s leading scorer.
With 2:29 remaining Alexander came up clutch with an off-balanced 3 with the shot clock expiring. Feazell then added a layup of his own to make it a 73-72 game with 1:47 on the clock.
The remainder of the game would prove to be all Kansas. An Agbaji dunk in transition set off a domino effect as the Creighton nets went quiet and the Jayhawks executed at the free throw line, winning 79-72.
Each team had four players finish in double digits, led by Kaluma’s 24 points and 12 rebounds. Martin had 20 of Jayhawks’ 25 points off the bench, meanwhile, the undermanned Creighton team went scoreless from the bench.
Kansas now advances to the Sweet 16, their fourth appearance in six years. They’ll take on the winner of No. 12 Richmond and No. 4 Providence.
