When the final buzzer had sounded at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville Thursday night, Kansas coach Bill Self stood behind Perry Ellis grinning from ear-to-ear. Ellis was smiling too – at least as much as the serious senior ever allows himself to show the emotion of happiness.
CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson asked Ellis what Self had said to him, other than asking if he was tired.
“He said he was so proud of me, how I went out there and attacked – and just happy overall for the win,” Ellis said.
There was plenty for Kansas (33-4) to celebrate after a 79-63 victory over No. 5 Maryland in the Sweet 16. But Ellis stood out above all the other Jayhawks with 27 points on 10-for-17 shooting from the field and a 7-for-7 contribution from the free throw line, where the Jayhawks shot 85.7 percent (18 of 21).
Ellis is now one win away from his first Final Four appearance and the Jayhawks are back in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2012, when they went on to lose the national championship game to Kentucky.
“[The Elite Eight] sounds great,” Ellis said. “I just want to try to keep going. We want to keep playing and keep having fun.”
Kansas will meet No. 2 seed Villanova Saturday in the South Regional final with a trip to the Final Four on the line. The Wildcats will be making their third regional final appearance under Jay Wright after crushing Miami (Fla.) 92-69 in the other semifinal in Louisville Thursday night.
Ellis was far from any individual tournament scoring record in Kansas history. The late Clyde Lovellette scored 44 against Saint Louis in 1952 and Danny Manning, who was watching from the stands Thursday night, scored 42 in 1987. But Ellis was the dominant figure as the Jayhawks pulled away by outscoring the Terps, 43-29, in the second half.
It seemed every time the Jayhawks needed a basket, Ellis was there with one of his drives to the basket, a dunk, a jumper from the side, or a floater in the lane. Perhaps his biggest shot came with just under seven minutes in the game when he hit a mid-range jumper to elevate the Jayhawks to a 66-53 lead.
Just before that, Maryland had three empty possessions with the opportunity to cut the Kansas lead to five points. After the Terps couldn’t score, forward Landen Lucas (14 points, 11 rebounds) made a nice drop step move on the baseline and scored to give Kansas a 62-53 lead.
On Maryland’s next possession, with 7:10 left, Lucas drew a charge on Maryland center Diamond Stone. It was the fourth foul on Stone (5 points, 4 rebounds). If the call had gone the other way, it would have been the fourth foul on Lucas.
How many college basketball observers would have predicted at the start of the season that Lucas would outplay Stone in the Sweet 16?
The game was like a microcosm of the entire season for Maryland (27-9). The Terps started the season hot and were ranked as high as No. 2 during the season. But they struggled in conference play — finishing 12-6 in the Big Ten — and then appeared to be a tired team late in the regular season when they relied too much Stone and guard Melo Trimble (17 against Kansas).
Rasheed Sulaimon, the transfer from Duke, led Maryland with 18 and Jake Layman gave the Terps energy with eight points and five rebounds.
Kansas trailed by six points early in the game.
The Jayhawks had won their first two NCAA games easily, defeating Austin Peay 105-79 and Connecticut 73-61. Self called the Jayhawks “pretty impatient” in the first half, as they hit only 4 of their first 18 shots.
But the Jayhawks show no signs of panic and that may have been the most significant statement they made as they try to reach the Final Four. Maryland was effective with its pick-and-roll offense in the first half, but KU’s defense – especially the hustle at that end by Ellis – got Maryland off kilter.
(Photo by Bo Rader/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire)
Despite the rough start, Kansas still led 36-34 at halftime and with Ellis and Wayne Selden Jr. (19 points) leading the way in the first five minutes of the second half, the Jayhawks had improved their overall shooting percentage to 68 percent with 15 minutes left in the game.
Kansas has now won its last 17 games. One more win sends the Jayhawks to the Final Four, a goal they have had since capturing gold at the World University Games last summer. They’ve won the Maui Invitational, the Big 12 regular season, and the Big 12 tournament. Their last loss came Jan. 25 at Iowa State.
If Ellis and Selden keep scoring the way they have in three NCAA games, and the Jayhawks continue to rebound and play great defense, Villanova will certainly have its hands full Saturday.
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