FORT WORTH, TX — As Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self previews his team's NCAA Tournament game against Creighton, he downplayed the importance of potentially tying Kentucky for the lead in an all-time victory.
Self, speaking on Friday, certainly expressed hope that his Jayhawks would. He hoped that he would be able to pass the Wildcats with more wins. But for the self, it came from a desire to see Kansas continue to lead the NCAA Tournament, nothing more.
Regardless, Saturday saw the Jayhawks top the BlueJays in a 79-72 victory, which both sends them into the Midwest region's Sweet 16 and ties the program to an all-time win with Kentucky. Kansas (30-6) will go up against 12-seeded Richmond or 4-seed Providence for a spot in the Elite Eight, and stand a chance to take the lead in the race for an all-time victory. The Jayhawks have certainly been able to benefit in this regard since the Wildcats were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the first round.
Jayhawks advance to first Sweet 16 since 2018
Kansas was one game short of reaching the Sweet 16 in both 2019 and 2021, and the 2020 tournament was cancelled, meaning the last time the Jayhawks made it through was in 2018, when they finished in the Elite Eight and Final Four. had also arrived. , The drought is now over, however, with Kansas leading the 16-seeded Texas Southern and Creighton. Now it's up to the Jayhawks to grab a few more wins.
It's unclear which teams Kansas would have to beat to get there. Those games are yet to end. But the Jayhawks should be the favorite to move on at this point.
Creighton's 3-point barrage in the second half cools something, but not by much
By halftime, the Bluejays had taken 15 3 seconds and had made eight of them. Overall, they were just 12-for-32 off the field. That means they were hitting 53.3% of their efforts from the back of the arc, and just 23.5% of their efforts inside it. Clear, 3-point shooting was the main reason they were trailing the Jayhawks by only one point after 20 minutes of play.
In the second half, however, Creighton's 3s did not fall as often as they did in the first. The Bluejays went 4-for-13 on an attempt from behind the arch in the final 20 minutes. He completed 42.9% shooting on 3s and 35.6% on field goal attempts. Coming into the game, Creighton averaged 6.6 on 21.6 attempts from behind the arch in each game, and Kansas made 6.1 on 20.3 attempts from behind the arc per game.
Ochai Agaji struggles to hit a shot in Kansas opening round
In the Jayhawks' run of 64 victories, although Kansas took 80 points, senior guard Ochai Agbaji went 1-for-5 at just 5-for-14 and 3 from the ground. In his round of 32 wins, Agaji went 5-for-14 from the field and 1-for-3 at 3. This means that, in the opening games of the tournament combined, Agaji is shooting 35.7% from the ground and 25% from behind the arc.
Despite the opening offense still finding ways to produce - who went 4-for-5 from the free-throw line on Saturday - was not a regular shot. Super-senior guard Remi Martin has been valuable off the bench, and scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half on Saturday. But Kansas is clearly better when its All-American is hitting shots, and coming into the game, Aghazi was hitting 47.4% of his efforts from the field and 40.1% of his efforts from the back of the arc.