Kansas Basketball: Ranking the last 29 NCAA Tournament teams

12. 1995-96 (29-5) (12-2 Big 8)

The Jayhawks were coming off a strong 1994-95 season, losing in the Sweet 16 in the 1995 NCAA Tournament. Things would go a bit differently for Roy Williams and the Jayhawks in 1995-96 with the arrival of a freshman Paul Pierce.

Pierce averaged 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest as a complementary player to sophomore Raef LaFrentz in the frontcourt. LaFrentz produced 13.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest during his sophomore season. Pierce’s arrival allowed Jacque Vaughn to do a little bit of everything, as he put up 10.9 points, 6.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game.

The Jayhawks opened the season as the No. 2 team in the AP Poll and climbed to No. 1 for three weeks with an undefeated record. Their first blemish came in a 74-66 overtime loss to the Temple Owls on Dec. 22, 1995. They reeled off another 12 straight wins before losing again on the road in conference play to the Missouri Tigers on Feb. 10, 1996.

Kansas finished the regular season with a record of 12-2, once again winning the regular season conference title. In the conference tournament, they lost 56-55 in the final to the Iowa State Cyclones.

The loss was enough to push them back into a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but it only motivated them. They won their first two games by a combined 26.5 points to face the Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16.

In the Sweet 16, they beat the Wildcats 83-80 behind 20 points from Pierce and 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists from Jerod Haase. Vaughn also had 13 points and 11 assists.

Kansas ran out of juice in the Elite Eight against the No. 4-seeded Syracuse Orange. They suffered a 3-point loss of their own 60-57 in an overall bad shooting display. As a team, Kansas shot 34.4 percent from the floor and 16 percent from 3-point range. They lost in the Elite Eight, but it was quite the experience for the young budding stars.