Arkansas makes history, ousts defending champ Kansas from March Madness

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Eric Musselman and all the players were so excited that they ran onto the floor when the game ended. Everyone was cheering. Coach Musselman was celebrating like he always does after a great win. He got on top of the press table, took off his red polo shirt, and waved it in joy while shouting out loud. This victory was extra special!

On Saturday, Kansas’s chance to defend its national title was over when Arkansas’s Ricky Council IV made five free throws in the closing minutes and beat the number one ranked Jayhawks 72-71. Coach Bill Self admitted he was not composed during this game as his team only led for 1 minute and 43 seconds. He also noted that this season has been really difficult with a lot of ups and downs.

“It’s really special for our team to go to Las Vegas and be part of the remaining 16 teams in the tournament. It’s not easy to become part of this tournament and it’s even harder to win or beat a defending champion or top-seeded team. But we did it!”

The Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team played against a team that was the No. 1 seed for the third year in a row! Last year, they defeated Gonzaga and made it to the Elite 8 two years in a row. This time, their offense wasn’t so great, and some of their players were even fouled out. In fact, this is the first time any team has beaten a No. 1 seed with three players being disqualified from fouls – an amazing record set by OptaSTATS!

“I’m so excited because we just won!” Musselman said. “I’ve been telling everyone that our team is getting better and better rather than staying the same like most other teams at this stage of the season! I’ve never been more proud of a team than I am now!”

Davonte Davis scored 25 points and Council added 21, allowing Arkansas to come back from being 12 points behind in the second half. Kansas wasn’t able to win even with their coach Bill Self being sick, and Purdue – who were a top seed – had already been defeated on Friday by the 16th ranked team Fairleigh Dickinson.

Now, Arkansas (22-13) has gone to the Sweet Sixteen for 3 years in a row, and they’ll play either Saint Mary’s or UConn in the West Region semifinals in Las Vegas this Thursday.

Coach Self has been with the Jayhawks basketball team since they arrived in Des Moines. He still isn’t feeling well enough to coach a game because he had surgery to unclog his blocked arteries on March 8th. Norm Roberts, an assistant coach, was the one who coached in place of Coach Self for this fifth straight time.

Kansas was hoping to become the first team to win two championships in a row since Florida did it in 2006-2007, and they were ahead by 8 points at halftime. Unfortunately, Kansas got their first loss in 27 games when starting the second half with that lead. In the NCAA Tournament, they had always won before when leading by 8 points or more at halftimes.

It’s been a great season for us, and all the players fought until the very last second. Even though our coach wasn’t here, we still didn’t make any excuses and tried our best to get a win – sadly, we could not. Davis scored 21 of his points in the second half and he was forced to leave when there was 1:56 left on the clock. Then Council from Wichita State came in and made nine out of eleven points for the Razorbacks team.

Davis said his team figured out how to succeed, just in the nick of time. Outside of the locker room, Musselman gave him a huge hug and said he loved him! Council made some free throws to help Arkansas win – scoring two points before getting another rebound and making two more points for a 3-point lead.

In the last seconds of the game, Arkansas gave Kansas’ player Jalen Wilson one shot to protect their lead. He made the first free throw but he tried to miss the second one intentionally, but it bounced off the glass and went in anyway. Because of this, Kansas never got another chance to score and Arkansas won.

Wilson scored 20 points and had 4 rebounds, which was not enough compared to the 15 rebounds Arkansas had. He said that it hurt even more when they weren’t able to grab the ball off Council’s missed free throw at the last seconds of the game.

Wilson felt unhappy with the final result of their year, saying it all came down to just one play. He gave credit to Arkansas for playing so well. Before the game, people thought that Arkansas might be dangerous with their quick transitions and great defense.

The Razorbacks didn’t have the best luck during the game. Anthony Black hurt his ankle and had to rest, Nick Smith Jr., who’s likely to be drafted for the NBA soon, got two fouls and was only able to play for 10 minutes without any score, and Kamani Johnson wasn’t feeling well and was in pain due to a sore toe.

The Razorbacks took a lot of 3-pointers at the start, but didn’t make many of them. As a result, they couldn’t get any momentum going from their running game either. Kansas was playing well and almost winning, but Arkansas didn’t give up. Davis and Walsh’s shots started an 11-point run for the Razorbacks in the second half, eventually leading to their first lead since the beginning of the game.

The Razorback team from Arkansas stopped Wilson, one of their opponents, from taking shots for 15 minutes during the 2nd half when it mattered most. This team has reached the Sweet 16 a total of 14 times and is the 12th lower-seeded group to get so far in a regional semifinal. Coach Musselman could be reminded of the incredible glory years if he manages to lead this team towards the Final Four.

If you want to follow the March Madness basketball tournament and stay up to date with all the news and events, check out these websites: https://bigbignews.net/march-madness for game coverage, https://bigbignews.net/ncaa-mens-bracket for the tournament bracket, and https://bigbignews.net/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll for the NCAA men’s college basketball rankings. Also be sure to follow us on Twitter at @AP_Top25!