Malik Newman has been incredible over the last month, and his latest performance has given the Kansas Jayhawks another Final Four appearance.
When both Duke and Kansas each won their Sweet Sixteen games to create this matchup, this instantly became the biggest game of the NCAA Tournament for this season. While the upsets and Cinderella stories were great, it created a lack of heavyweight battles to this point.
But with just one spot left in the Final Four up for grabs, the Jayhawks and Blue Devils were going to have to duke it out (no pun intended).
This was as even a game from start to finish, with each team making the case for the best starting lineup in college basketball. For the first 35 minutes of the game, Duke and Kansas were taking turns with the lead, with neither having a true advantage.
But the Blue Devils did have the ball last with the game tied at the end of regulation. Grayson Allen had the chance to be the hero once again but failed to end the game at that moment.
Duke originally had the advantage at the start of the extra period, with Udoka Azubuike fouling out at the end of regulation. But the fifth foul for Wendell Carter Jr. evened things up.
What gave the Jayhawks the edge in overtime to start out was Malik Newman, who scored the first nine points for the team, giving them a three-point lead with a minute to go. Trevon Duval, who had a team-high 20 points, had a chance to tie it up, but his three-pointer went wide. A couple more free throws and Kansas prevailed, 85-81.
Ever since the start of the Big 12 Tournament, the Mississippi State transfer has been on a tear, averaging over 20 ppg. He finished with 32 points, with 13 coming in overtime. Depth was always an issue, but with a guard line that Kansas had, it turned out to be a non-issue.
Next: Villanova beats Texas Tech to reach the Final Four
The Jayhawks will now take on fellow No. 1 seed Villanova in the Semifinals on Saturday, with a chance to play for the national championship on the line. Kansas already has the Big 12 regular season title, and the conference tournament title. Will the biggest trophy of all be next to go on their mantle?