No. 10 Stanford stuns No. 2 Kansas; headed to Sweet 16
The Sweet 16 is going to be thin on lottery prospects this year, and fans have the Stanford Cardinal to thank for that.
On Sunday, No. 10 Stanford leveraged a disciplined zone defense and an offensive surge early in the second half to a 60-57 upset of No. 2 Kansas.
Leading 53-51 with two minutes to go, Stanford would hit just six of their final 10 free throws, keeping Kansas' window open. With the lead extended to 58-51 following an Andrew Wiggins turnover and a Naadir Tharpe missed layup, a win seemed certain.
And then Conner Frankamp hit back-to-back threes, and suddenly everything was up in the air again.
After Anthony Brown split a pair of freebies, Kansas had 13 seconds, no timeouts, and a three-point deficit to overcome. They had options, including giving the ball to Wiggins to create, or leaning on Tharpe, who was the team's only reliable 3-point shooter during the season.
Wiggins called for the ball despite not being a strong outside shooter. Instead, the team went back to Frankamp - 4-of-6 on the day but hitting just 31 percent for the season - and his shot was well off the mark to end the game.
And with that, the season is over for Kansas. It's tough to call it anything but a disappointment, starting the year ranked fifth in the AP preseason poll with a pair of lottery picks on the roster and as many as five eventual NBA players. Wiggins had one of his worst games of the season, shooting just 1-of-6, while Tharpe struggled to a 2-of-8 mark and Perry Ellis shot just 3-of-10.
Tarik Black was the only Jayhawk making a difference for the bulk of the game, but he fouled out with 5:25 to play, retiring with 18 points and six rebounds.
The Cardinal, meanwhile, got balanced contributions from all five starters. Canadian bigs Stefan Nastic and Dwight Powell combined for 25 points and 11 rebounds against their countryman Wiggins, while Chasson Randle scored 13 points with six steals and Josh Huestis made up for a poor shooting night with eight rebounds.
And Brown remained steady at the stripe, shooting 6-of-9 on free throws (he's an 80-percent free throw shooter) and hitting enough to ice the game late, though it was tense.
The big story for Stanford, though, was the defense, as they baffled Kansas and held them to 32.8 percent shooting. That will be the story, other than the inevitable Wiggins hot takes, as Stanford moves on to face No. 11 Dayton in a Sweet 16 battle of Cinderellas.
Prospect Watch
Dwight Powell, Stanford - A potential mid-to-late second-round pick, Powell showed why on Sunday, scoring 15 points on 10 shots with seven rebounds, not allowing the more heralded Kansas players to bully him inside.
Andrew Wiggins, Kansas - Get ready for a lot of unwarranted Wiggins criticism in the coming days. Like Jabari Parker earlier in the week, Wiggins failed to take over with his team against the wall, shooting just 1-of-6 for four points with four rebounds. It's worth remembering several things when it comes to the potential number one pick, though: he's 19, it's just one game, Bill Self coached a terrible game, this program's offense has never been one to highlight the talents of stars, and his defense was still solid. But go ahead, extrapolate this one game to suggest he'll be a failure in the NBA.
Joel Embiid, Kansas - Embiid sat out due to a stress injury in his back, and his status could go two ways depending on the team. With Parker and Wiggins struggling in elimination games and Kansas losing without him, Embiid may move up by default. On the other hand, a lingering back issue for a young big man could scare some teams off.
Wayne Selden Jr., Kansas - A likely second-round pick, Selden, too, had a poor game. he shot just 1-of-5 from the floor for two points, with two assists and three steals. He also dealt with foul trouble, limiting him to just 18 minutes of play.
Perry Ellis, Kansas - Ellis struggled from the floor with a 3-for-10 mark, though he added eight rebounds. He still needs to extend his range beyond 15-feet to be an NBA player, something Kansas really could have used Sunday, but this was hardly a damning game.
Tarik Black, Kansas - Black may have been playing his way into a second-round draft slot until fouling out. He was a problem in the paint, the only Jayhawk capable of breaking the success of Stanford's zone, and had 18 points and six rebounds in just 26 minutes.