Kansas' Season Comes to an End With 72-71 Loss to Arkansas

The Jayhawks couldn't hit a free throw in the second half in the second-round matchup.

It was poetic in the worst way. Kansas missed several front-ends of one-and-ones throughout the second half as Arkansas clawed back. And when Kansas needed to actually miss a free throw to try and win, Jalen Wilson banked it in, which led to a 72-71 Arkansas win and the end to Kansas’ season.

The intensity that was lacking in the first half Thursday’s first-round game for Kansas was apparent from the tip. Kevin McCullar stole it on the first possession of the game and the Jayhawks crashed the offensive boards.

Ricky Council put Arkansas on the board first and Jalen Wilson quickly answered in the paint. Both teams showed nerves early but Kansas made Arkansas play worse. Harris drove and forced an and-one, then he found Gradey Dick for a dunk after an Arkansas miss. Wilson got in on the action with an and-one and an alley-oop from Harris to KJ Adams completed the 11-0 Kansas run.

The Razorbacks started finding a groove offensively by attacking the rim, but Kansas still led 13-6 at the under-12 timeout. KU and Arkansas combined to go 2-16 from three in the first half, but the Jayhawks’ couldn’t have been bigger. After the Razorbacks cut KU’s lead to four, Joseph Yesufu hit a three from the “H” in the “March Madness” logo with the shot clock running down to go up 18-11.

Arkansas would again cut it to five at 20-15 when Bobby Pettiford came in and immediately stole it and finished on the other end. The bench was a big component as Adams and Wilson picked up two fouls – Wilson’s second was part of a double technical. Harris found McCullar with an incredible fast-break pass for an and-one, his fourth assist of the half, but then panic set in as Harris hurt his right ankle contesting a shot with three minutes left in the half. It looked like he might have landed on a photographer. He went to the locker room and missed the rest of the half.

But McCullar stepped up and hit some big jumpers and forced a shot-clock violation with six seconds left to give KU a 35-27 lead at the half. KU was 47-0 in the NCAA Tournament when leading by eight or more at the half.

Harris was diagnosed with a sprained ankle and started the second half for the Jayhawks. Arkansas scored on the first possession of the half and ticky-tack fouls against Kansas kept Arkansas in it early as Adams picked up his third and the Razorbacks cut the lead to four. Harris found Adams for the layup for KU’s first points. But then Adams picked up his fourth.

Wilson then took over and scored five quick points to put KU up 42-31. The fouls started to even out as the refs called everything. Udeh picked up his fourth foul shortly after Adams and Zuby Ejiofor came in with 16:01 left. Harris stepped up with back-to-back driving layups to put KU up 12 again.

Davonte Davis was the spark for Arkansas, scoring seven straight points including just its second three of the game. Then Dick answered with a three of his own. Davis hit another with a big roll to cut the lead to six. Then after a Wilson turnovers, the Razorbacks cut it to four with 11 minutes left. Then an Arkansas steal led to a foul after a no-foul on the other end. Suddenly it was just 51-49 Kansas.

Two big stops and blocks/rebounds by Ejiofor kept the lead as McCullar was fouled – it was Davis’ fourth – and went to the line for a one-and-one but he missed the front end. Walsh hit a three on the next possession to take the lead and make it an 11-0 run for the Razorbacks. It was Arkansas’ first lead since 2-0.

Wilson drew a foul on the next possession and he missed the front end of the 1-and-1. McCullar took a charge on the next possession and then Harris hit a three to put KU up 54-52. Arkansas hit a FT and then Adams fouled out Makhi Mitchell and knocked down one of his to keep the lead at two. Davis couldn’t be stopped, scoring his 17th point of the half to tie it. Adams went back to the line and hit both.

A stop on defense led to a McCullar drive and he narrowly missed the basket and then hit just one free throw. Arkansas is a 69% free-throw shooting team but hit 14 of 18. Adams went strong with four fouls to draw an and-one on the other end and finished it off to put KU up four. Harris was called for a rare 10-second call for KU’s 10th turnover and Arkansas made them pay with a jumper by Council for 61-59. A Harris miss was followed by another Davis layup over Adams and it was all tied at 61 with four minutes to play.

McCullar answered with a huge three his first of the game. Davis tried to answer but missed and Wilson grabbed the rebound. Arkansas would again cut it to one and with the chance to take the lead, KU forced a shot-clock violation. Harris drew a foul on Davis, who fouled out with 1:56 left and 25 points. Harris missed his first free throw but knocked down the second. Council hit an incredibly difficult turnaround to tie the game at 65.

Council missed a jumper but Johnson grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back for Arkansas’ lead with 50 seconds left. Walsh fouled Wilson with 39 seconds left and he hit both to tie it. A foul call on McCullar with 23 seconds left fouled him out with 13 points. Council hit the first, missed the second, but an offensive rebound led to another foul. Council went back to the line and hit both to put Arkansas up three with 20 seconds left.

Wilson drove it and fouled out Jordan Walsh to head to the line with eight seconds left. Wilson knocked them both down and then fouled Council down one with 7.1 seconds left. Council made both and fouled Wilson with three seconds left. He made the first and banked it in when trying to miss on purpose. Arkansas was able to then run out the clock.

It was the first time Kansas lost all year when leading at halftime. Wilson ended his career with 20 points. Adams, McCullar, and Harris also scored in double figures while Dick was held to seven points on 3-9 shooting.