8th seed Arkansas beat 1st seed Kansas to make it to the round of 16 Sweet

DES MOINES, Iowa – For the third consecutive season, the Razorbacks returned to the Sweet 16 with a 72-71 win over top seed Kansas on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

It also marks the third year in a row Arkansas has faced the No. 1 seed and the Razorbacks are leading 2-1 in such games – a defeat to Baylor at Elite 8 in 2021, beating the No. 1 seed overall. Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 in 2022 and beat Kansas on Saturday in the Second Half final.

Devo Davis was spectacular in the second half and Ricky Council IV caught up in the second half. Davis scored 25 points, including 21 in the second half, to help clear 12 points missing in the second half. After Davis fouled late, the Board sealed the win by scoring 11 of Hogs’ final 15 points, including the last 5 from the line.

A 3-pointer from Jordan Walsh with less than nine minutes left gave an 11-0 lead and put Arkansas ahead for the first time since scoring the first points of the game. The run established a final stretch of road back and forth.

Davis ’25 has led all goalscorers and is below the best record of his career. His brilliant second half saw him win 7 to 9 from the floor and 6 to 7 from the free throw. Davis’ seven on-field goals were half of Hogs’ 14 in the second half. The board scored 11 of his 21 points in the second half. Kamani Johnson was the late key player with a back-ball that gave Arkansas the lead along with 10 rebounds – his most as a Razorback.

Walsh added 10 points and three rebounds from the bench. He’s probably the team’s MVP in two games because he’s +34 in the games combined, the Arkansas games add up to 11 points.

Next

Arkansas advances to the show’s 14th Sweet 16 and will face off against UConn/St. Mary’s at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas next week.

GAME NOTES

• Arkansas fell eight points after halftime. Going into the game, the Kansas Jayhawks took a 47-0 lead in the NCAA Tournament with a lead of at least 8 points after halftime.
• Arkansas’ starting lineup for the third time is Anthony Black – Nick Smith Jr. – Davonte Davis – Ricky Council IV – Kamani Johnson. Arkansas used that lineup in the SEC Tournament win over Auburn and in the NCAA opening round win over Illinois. Arkansas won the tip.
• Arkansas has won five of its last seven games against Kansas, but the Jayhawks have an 8-6 advantage in the all-time series.
• Arkansas is 1-1 against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
• Arkansas is leading 12-10 in NCAA second-round games and has won three games in a row.
• Arkansas is the all-time 50-34 in the NCAA Tournament.
• Eric Musselman has led his teams to two three consecutive Sweet 16s and in four of the last five NCAA Tournaments held. He is 8-2 as head coach of Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament, 10-5 overall in the NCAA Tournament, and 25-12 in all post-season games (conference tournaments, CBI and NCAA).
• Arkansas won despite being leading at half-time, with five minutes and two minutes left. This year’s Hogs team is 5-6 when leading in the first half, 3-9 when leading at 5:00 and 2-11 when leading at 2:00.
• Devo Davis scored double-digit scores in seven of his 10 NCAA Tournament games. 25 points is his best attempt in an NCAA game.
• With wins over Gonzaga last year and Kansas this year, Arkansas is leading 2-9 in the NCAA Tournament against the No.
• This is only the second time Arkansas has advanced to Sweet 16 when seeded lower than fifth. Arkansas also advanced to Sweet 16 in 1996 as the 12th seed before losing to top seed UMass.
• This was the first win against an AP #4 team since the Razorbacks beat Tennessee in the 2008 SEC Tournament. Arkansas is 6-13 all-time against AP #4 and 3-3 in mid-site games. create.
• Makhi Mitchell has impressed in the post-season. He’s 18th/22nd on the field with 21 rebounds.
• Council IV has taken 165 free throws this season to draw Todd Day in eighth place on Razorback’s one-season roster.
• With 37:13 minutes played, Black set the show record for most minutes by a Razorback freshman with 1,216. (The previous record was 1203 by Patrick Beverley in 2006-07.) He also holds the record for most Razorback freshman steals with 69. With 179 free throws taken, he also holds the record for the most steals by freshman Razorback with 69. only five times short of Razorback’s freshman record of 186.