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NCAA Tournament: Kansas throttles UConn, advances to Sweet 16

By Matt Ostrowski

Mar 19, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) dunks the ball in the second half against the Connecticut Huskies during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) dunks the ball in the second half against the Connecticut Huskies during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Jayhawks are back in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 after a two-year hiatus.

Bill Self probably feels a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders.

After losing in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament the past two years, Self has finally made it out of the first weekend and into the Sweet 16 in convincing fashion, winning 73-61 over Connecticut.

UConn came out of the gates with an early 5-2 lead, but a 16-0 run for the Jayhawks put them up for good. Kansas would continue tacking onto the lead, leading 44-24 when the teams headed to the locker rooms for halftime.

Connecticut got the Kansas lead down to nine on multiple occasions in the second half, but every time the Huskies got reasonably close, Wayne Selden had an answer. Selden finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Perry Ellis was second on the team with 21 points, and Devonte’ Graham put in 13.

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For the Huskies, Sterling Gibbs and Rodney Purvis combined for 37 points, but did so on just 11-of-25 from the floor. Daniel Hamilton added 11 points.

Tonight was not Frank Mason‘s night

Mason finished with eight points, five rebounds, and four assists, which may not seem terrible. However, it becomes terrible when you add that he was 1-of-8 from the floor, and had four turnovers. He had quite a few silly turnovers, and struggled all night to get things going on the offensive end.

Thankfully, Graham was a bit more reliable tonight, and that’s the beauty of Kansas’ dual point guard lineup.

If one of them is struggling, the other one can step up. But still, Kansas has a potential matchup with Maryland looming in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, and Maryland has a very good backcourt and will need Mason to play better than he did tonight.

Landen Lucas is one of the most underappreciated player in the nation

His box score numbers will never be all that appealing, but Lucas does all of the things that this Kansas team needs their fifth starter to do. He’s the primary reason Kansas has been able to just 43 percent from inside the arc this season.

Since Lucas has been starting, that number is 41 percent.

He finished Saturday’s game with just six points, but had 12 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks, helped hold UConn to just five offensive rebounds, and is the culprit for the 44-24 rebound difference in the game.

Many Kansas fans were worried about Connecticut’s Amida Brimah dominating defensively and on the glass, but instead, it was Lucas.

This is the version of Selden that Kansas needs to win it all

Selden has been up and down all year, and I have previously mentioned that he probably needs to perform well for Kansas to win it all.

Well, Saturday night, Kansas got exactly that version of Selden. He was locked in on the defensive end, holding Hamilton to just 4-of-14 from the floor.

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And on the offensive end, he was by far Kansas’ best player, answering every time UConn put a run together. He was aggressive and actively looking for his shot, which he hasn’t always done this season. He shot the three ball, both spotting up and off the dribble, drove to the hoop (and even finished at the hoop!), and put the exclamation point on the game with this massive alley-oop dunk:

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