Martin, Kansas hold off Creighton 79-72 for another Sweet 16
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Remy Martin hadn't led Kansas in scoring all season coming into the NCAA Tournament.
The fifth-year senior transfer from Arizona State is 2 for 2 on the big stage.
Martin scored 20 points, Ochai Agbaji put the Jayhawks ahead for good with his first basket early in the second half, and Kansas held off Creighton 79-72 on Saturday to advance to the Sweet 16.
A sore knee had Martin in and out of the lineup before he missed almost a month during Big 12 play. His first two double-figure games since December came in the Big 12 Tournament, helping the Jayhawks (30-6) win that title.
Now he's led them to their 32nd Sweet 16. Kansas will face Providence, which advanced by beating Richmond, in the Midwest Region semifinals Friday in Chicago.
''With the guys and my family, the group, they're a pretty tight-knit group,'' Martin said. ''They keep my confidence going. They keep my mental going. I always felt like I had something in me, but there's nothing to it. I just keep it simple.''
The short-handed Bluejays (23-12) stayed close with an uncharacteristically hot showing from 3-point range. One of the worst teams in the country from beyond the arc, ninth-seeded Creighton went 12 of 28. Arthur Kaluma was 4 of 10 and scored 24 points.
The biggest 3 came from freshman Trey Alexander, who swished an off-balance heave from well behind the line as the shot clock was about to expire for a 73-70 deficit with 2:25 to go. Keyshawn Feazell's bucket soon after got Creighton within one.
The Bluejays had a chance to go ahead in the final minute, but Alexander's errant pass went off Alex O'Connell's hands. Agbaji scooped up the loose ball and took for a breakaway dunk, the last of his 13 second-half points.
Agbaji finished with 15 points, Christian Braun added 13 with a big 3 late in the second half and Jalen Wilson had 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Creighton, which reached the Sweet 16 last year, used just six players after losing 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner to a knee injury late in overtime of a 72-69 win over San Diego State on Thursday.
Point guard Ryan Nembhard, the Big East freshman of the year, was lost to wrist surgery late in the season, forcing the Bluejays to lean more on Alexander.
''Just to be resilient to come back and keep getting up every time you get knocked down, it's just a silly little game, but I think it teaches you a lot about life in that regard,'' senior Ryan Hawkins said. ''I think this group's got a lot of fire in them. I couldn't be prouder of how we finished the season out.''
Hawkins drained a 3-pointer from well behind the arc 13 seconds into the game for Creighton and finished 3 of 6 from distance with 14 points. O'Connell was 3 of 8 and scored 16. Alexander finished with 14 points.
Martin, the 6-foot guard who scored 15 points in a blowout of Texas Southern in the opening round, had 16 in the first half off the bench. The Bluejays gave him room to shoot, and he went 2 of 4 from 3 and 6 of 9 overall before the break.
''You've got to have guys take some marginal shots and make them,'' coach Bill Self said. ''And Remy obviously took good shots, but you don't expect a guy ... you don't expect point guards to do that. But that kept us in the game. We're a different team with him.''
BIG PICTURE
Creighton: The Bluejays wouldn't go away in the second half despite having three players on the court the entire 40 minutes and another for 38. They struggled to get closer than six points before the surge that gave them a chance to pull the upset.
''It was a good chess match in that regard,'' coach Greg McDermott said. ''The only difference is (Self) had nine or 10 guys down there to choose from, and we had seven.''
Kansas: The go-ahead bucket by Agbaji early in the second half came after the Big 12 player of the year missed all four shots in the first half. He was 1 of 7 from the field when he soared for an offensive rebound and hit the putback. His only 3-pointer came later.
FIT TO BE TIED
Kansas tied Kentucky in all-time wins and 30-win seasons. Each program has 2,353 wins and 16 seasons with at 30 victories. The milestones came two days after Kentucky lost to Saint Peter's 85-79 in overtime as the second seed in the East Region.
ALLEY-OOPING PAIR
O'Connell and Kaluma connected on alley-oop dunks twice, with O'Connell feeding Kaluma both times. The first was late in the first half. The second came soon after halftime, and drew a smile from O'Connell as he glanced toward his teammate on their way to the other end of the court.
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Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:00 | Ryan Hawkins vs. David McCormack (Trey Alexander gains possession) | |||
19:52 | +3 | Ryan Hawkins makes three point jump shot (Trey Alexander assists) | 3-0 | |
19:28 | Dajuan Harris Jr. misses two point jump shot | |||
19:26 | Arthur Kaluma defensive rebound | |||
19:06 | Ryan Hawkins turnover (lost ball) (David McCormack steals) | |||
18:43 | David McCormack misses two point hook shot | |||
18:41 | Arthur Kaluma defensive rebound | |||
18:29 | Arthur Kaluma misses three point jump shot | |||
18:27 | Christian Braun defensive rebound | |||
18:07 | KeyShawn Feazell shooting foul (Christian Braun draws the foul) | |||
18:07 | +1 | Christian Braun makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 3-1 | |
18:07 | +1 | Christian Braun makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 3-2 | |
17:48 | Arthur Kaluma misses two point layup | |||
17:46 | Jalen Wilson defensive rebound | |||
17:31 | Rati Andronikashvili personal foul (David McCormack draws the foul) | |||
17:24 | +3 | Dajuan Harris Jr. makes three point jump shot (Christian Braun assists) | 3-5 | |
17:13 | +2 | Trey Alexander makes two point jump shot | 5-5 | |
17:01 | Christian Braun turnover (lost ball) (Trey Alexander steals) | |||
16:58 | Dajuan Harris Jr. personal foul (Ryan Hawkins draws the foul) | |||
16:32 | +3 | Arthur Kaluma makes three point jump shot (Trey Alexander assists) | 8-5 | |
16:11 | Ochai Agbaji misses two point layup | |||
16:09 | Jalen Wilson offensive rebound | |||
16:06 | Jalen Wilson misses two point layup | |||
16:06 | Ochai Agbaji offensive rebound | |||
16:06 | Ryan Hawkins shooting foul (Ochai Agbaji draws the foul) | |||
16:06 | +1 | Ochai Agbaji makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 8-6 | |
16:06 | +1 | Ochai Agbaji makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 8-7 | |
15:51 | +3 | Ryan Hawkins makes three point jump shot (Trey Alexander assists) | 11-7 | |
15:29 | Jalen Wilson misses two point layup | |||
15:27 | Arthur Kaluma defensive rebound | |||
15:22 | +2 | Arthur Kaluma makes two point layup (Trey Alexander assists) | 13-7 | |
15:09 | Jalen Wilson misses three point jump shot | |||
15:07 | Dajuan Harris Jr. offensive rebound | |||
14:58 | +2 | Jalen Wilson makes two point layup (Dajuan Harris Jr. assists) | 13-9 | |
14:33 | Arthur Kaluma misses three point jump shot | |||
14:31 | Ochai Agbaji defensive rebound | |||
14:26 | Dajuan Harris Jr. misses three point jump shot | |||
14:24 | Arthur Kaluma defensive rebound | |||
14:13 | Trey Alexander turnover (out of bounds) | |||
14:13 | TV timeout | |||
13:57 | +3 | Remy Martin makes three point jump shot (Ochai Agbaji assists) | 13-12 | |
13:45 | Alex O'Connell turnover (lost ball) (Christian Braun steals) | |||
13:40 | +2 | Christian Braun makes two point layup | 13-14 | |
13:31 | Jalen Wilson personal foul (Ryan Hawkins draws the foul) | |||
13:10 | Trey Alexander misses two point jump shot | |||
13:08 | Jalen Wilson defensive rebound | |||
12:54 | Jalen Wilson misses two point jump shot | |||
12:52 | KeyShawn Feazell defensive rebound | |||
12:45 | +3 | Trey Alexander makes three point jump shot | 16-14 | |
12:33 | Alex O'Connell blocks Ochai Agbaji's two point jump shot | |||
12:31 | Alex O'Connell defensive rebound | |||
12:24 | Christian Braun personal foul (Trey Alexander draws the foul) | |||
12:05 | KeyShawn Feazell misses two point jump shot | |||
12:03 | Jalen Wilson defensive rebound | |||
11:52 | +3 | Remy Martin makes three point jump shot (Christian Braun assists) | 16-17 | |
11:31 | Mitch Lightfoot blocks Rati Andronikashvili's two point layup | |||
11:29 | Remy Martin defensive rebound | |||
11:24 | +2 | Jalen Wilson makes two point layup (Remy Martin assists) | 16-19 | |
11:00 | KeyShawn Feazell misses three point jump shot | |||
10:58 | Ochai Agbaji defensive rebound | |||
10:53 | +2 | Christian Braun makes two point layup (Ochai Agbaji assists) | 16-21 | |
10:50 | Bluejays 30 second timeout | |||
10:50 | TV timeout | |||
10:35 | KeyShawn Feazell misses two point jump shot | |||
10:33 | Jalen Wilson defensive rebound | |||
10:21 | Ochai Agbaji misses three point jump shot | |||
10:19 | Arthur Kaluma defensive rebound | |||
10:12 | Trey Alexander misses two point jump shot | |||
10:10 | Christian Braun defensive rebound | |||
9:57 | Ochai Agbaji misses two point jump shot | |||
9:55 | Arthur Kaluma defensive rebound | |||
9:44 | +2 | Ryan Hawkins makes two point layup (Trey Alexander assists) | 18-21 | |
9:33 | +2 | Remy Martin makes two point layup | 18-23 | |
9:11 | Remy Martin personal foul (Arthur Kaluma draws the foul) | |||
9:11 | Official timeout | |||
8:56 | Joseph Yesufu shooting foul (Alex O'Connell draws the foul) | |||
8:56 | +1 | Alex O'Connell makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 19-23 | |
8:56 | +1 | Alex O'Connell makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 20-23 | |
8:43 | Jalen Wilson misses two point layup | |||
8:41 | David McCormack offensive rebound | |||
8:41 | David McCormack misses two point layup | |||
8:39 | David McCormack offensive rebound | |||
8:39 | KeyShawn Feazell shooting foul (David McCormack draws the foul) | |||
8:39 | +1 | David McCormack makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 20-24 | |
8:39 | +1 | David McCormack makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 20-25 | |
8:22 | +3 | Ryan Hawkins makes three point jump shot (Arthur Kaluma assists) | 23-25 | |
8:03 | +2 | Jalen Wilson makes two point layup (Christian Braun assists) | 23-27 | |
7:50 | Arthur Kaluma misses two point jump shot | |||
7:48 | Jalen Wilson defensive rebound | |||
7:42 | Joseph Yesufu turnover (bad pass) (Rati Andronikashvili steals) | |||
7:31 | Trey Alexander misses two point jump shot | |||
7:29 | David McCormack defensive rebound | |||
7:13 | Joseph Yesufu turnover (bad pass) (Arthur Kaluma steals) | |||
7:02 | +3 | Alex O'Connell makes three point jump shot (Trey Alexander assists) | 26-27 | |
6:33 | +2 | Jalen Wilson makes two point layup | 26-29 | |
6:25 | +3 | Arthur Kaluma makes three point jump shot (Trey Alexander assists) | 29-29 | |
6:13 | +2 | Remy Martin makes two point layup | 29-31 | |
6:03 | Arthur Kaluma misses three point jump shot | |||
6:01 | Christian Braun defensive rebound | |||
5:49 | Arthur Kaluma blocks Christian Braun's two point jump shot | |||
5:47 | Bluejays defensive rebound | |||
5:47 | TV timeout | |||
5:20 | Ryan Hawkins misses two point layup | |||
5:18 | Arthur Kaluma offensive rebound | |||
5:14 | +3 | Alex O'Connell makes three point jump shot (Arthur Kaluma assists) | 32-31 | |
4:43 | Remy Martin misses three point jump shot | |||
4:41 | Trey Alexander defensive rebound | |||
4:32 | Alex O'Connell misses three point jump shot | |||
4:30 | Remy Martin defensive rebound | |||
4:26 | Jalen Wilson misses two point jump shot | |||
4:24 | Rati Andronikashvili defensive rebound | |||
4:16 | Jalen Wilson blocks Ryan Hawkins's two point layup | |||
4:14 | Mitch Lightfoot defensive rebound | |||
4:08 | +2 | Remy Martin makes two point jump shot | 32-33 | |
3:46 | Mitch Lightfoot personal foul (Arthur Kaluma draws the foul) | |||
3:46 | TV timeout | |||
3:41 | Ochai Agbaji blocks Trey Alexander's two point layup | |||
3:39 | Ochai Agbaji defensive rebound | |||
3:32 | Remy Martin misses two point jump shot | |||
3:30 | Ryan Hawkins defensive rebound | |||
3:13 | Arthur Kaluma turnover (lost ball) (Ochai Agbaji steals) | |||
2:46 | +2 | Remy Martin makes two point jump shot | 32-35 | |
2:22 | Ochai Agbaji personal foul (Alex O'Connell draws the foul) | |||
2:22 | +1 | Alex O'Connell makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 33-35 | |
2:22 | Alex O'Connell misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
2:22 | Christian Braun defensive rebound | |||
2:03 | Ochai Agbaji turnover (bad pass) (Alex O'Connell steals) | |||
1:55 | Ryan Hawkins misses three point jump shot | |||
1:52 | Jayhawks defensive rebound | |||
1:41 | Remy Martin misses three point jump shot | |||
1:39 | Jalen Coleman-Lands offensive rebound | |||
1:35 | +2 | Jalen Coleman-Lands makes two point layup | 33-37 | |
1:20 | Arthur Kaluma misses two point jump shot | |||
1:18 | Jalen Wilson defensive rebound | |||
1:12 | Christian Braun turnover (lost ball) (Alex O'Connell steals) | |||
1:07 | +2 | Arthur Kaluma makes two point alley-oop dunk (Alex O'Connell assists) | 35-37 | |
1:06 | Jalen Coleman-Lands shooting foul (Arthur Kaluma draws the foul) | |||
1:06 | +1 | Arthur Kaluma makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 36-37 | |
0:51 | KJ Adams misses two point layup | |||
0:49 | Ryan Hawkins defensive rebound | |||
0:44 | Alex O'Connell misses three point jump shot | |||
0:42 | Arthur Kaluma offensive rebound | |||
0:41 | Remy Martin personal foul (Arthur Kaluma draws the foul) | |||
0:41 | +1 | Arthur Kaluma makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 37-37 | |
0:41 | +1 | Arthur Kaluma makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 38-37 | |
0:35 | Rati Andronikashvili personal foul (Remy Martin draws the foul) | |||
0:28 | Trey Alexander shooting foul (Remy Martin draws the foul) | |||
0:28 | +1 | Remy Martin makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 38-38 | |
0:28 | +1 | Remy Martin makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 38-39 | |
0:06 | Rati Andronikashvili misses two point layup | |||
0:04 | Jalen Wilson defensive rebound | |||
0:01 | Christian Braun misses three point jump shot | |||
0:00 | Jayhawks offensive rebound | |||
0:00 | End of period |