Kansas vs. Providence score, takeaways: Jayhawks advance to Elite Eight after holding off Friars

Providence tried to rally but Kansas held on for the Sweet 16 victory in the Midwest Region on Friday

The last No. 1 seed left in the 2022 NCAA Tournament is still dancing. In a tight matchup between the Big 12 and Big East champions on Friday, Kansas made enough plays down the stretch to hold off No. 4 seed Providence 66-61 in their Sweet 16 matchup in the Midwest Region.

Kansas led by 13 points in the second half at 36-23 when the Jayhawks turned the ball over, essentially starting a 21-8 run for the Friars to tie the game at 44. The Friars took their first lead of the game at 48-47 with 5:49 left when Noah Horchler, who spearheaded the comeback with back-to-back 3-point makes, cut to the basket for a backdoor bucket.

The Jayhawks would respond, however -- first with Jalen Wilson converting an and-one at the basket before Christian Braun then drove to the hoop and dropped in a floater off the glass. After forcing a turnover, David McCormack grabbed an errant shot and stuck in the miss, helping Kansas go on to the victory. Providence didn't get back to within one possession the rest of the way.

Remy Martin scored a game-high 23 for Kansas, while Wilson had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Aljami Durham paced Providence with 21 points. With the victory, Kansas passed Kentucky on the all-time wins chart and is now the winningest program in college basketball history.

The Jayhawks now move on to the Elite Eight where they will play the winner of No. 10 Miami vs. No. 11 Iowa State. The Jayhawks swept the Cyclones in Big 12 play this season.

Here are a few takeaways from Kansas' win in the Sweet 16 on Friday. 

Dominant defensive first half

Kansas held a 26-17 halftime lead over Providence thanks to a dominant defensive effort; the 17 points were the fewest scored by the Friars in an NCAA Tournament half. How dominant was that effort? Providence shot just 20% from the floor and the Friars had as many shots blocked (seven) as they made. The Friars made just 1 of 13 3-pointers and produced just 0.515 points per possession. To put that into perspective, the nation's worst offense this year in Division I games put up 0.815 points per possession.

That's a half that didn't look particularly possible earlier this season when Kansas appeared to have one of the worst defenses in Bill Self's tenure. But the Jayhawks have slowly put things together on that end, and Self's usual level of Sweet 16 preparation -- Kansas is now 9-2 in Sweet 16 games and has only lost once (in 2013, vs. Michigan) under Self -- had Kansas defending Providence's offensive actions well.

Martin shines, but Kansas needs more

Excepting an off night from the free throw line, missing five of his 13 attempts from the stripe, Martin logged another strong tournament showing. He came off the bench once again, scoring 23 points in 27 minutes and leading the Jayhawks in scoring for the third consecutive game. Martin is now averaging 19.3 points per game and has 58 points in just 77 minutes. 

The Jayhawks have needed it, particularly with All-American Ochai Agbaji struggling so mightily. The Big 12 Player of the Year scored five points on 2-of-8 shooting, while Braun, Kansas' second-leading scorer, had six points on 2-of-6 shooting.

Both did the non-scoring things well. Braun grabbed 10 rebounds, scored one of the game's biggest buckets and actually led Kansas in plus/minus at plus-11. Agbaji ranked second in that category while blocking four shots and swiping two steals. But even with Martin firing on all cylinders, it's tough to see a scenario where Kansas continues to win if Agbaji and Braun aren't joining Martin as efficient, if not prolific, scorers.

Providence shows fight

The Friars have been far from darlings in the advanced metrics crowd; the Shot Quality website even indicated that Providence should have lost its 28-point win over Richmond in the second round and Friars fans have battled back against the team's poor KenPom ranking (No. 32 heading into the game) all season.

What the Friars did do was win. Providence won the Big East regular season title, continued its run with a hard-fought victory over a potentially under-seeded South Dakota State team, and then trounced Richmond in the second round. Against Kansas, that grit showed up repeatedly. The Friars could have been quickly smashed on a night where they shot 20% in the first half, but Providence continued to grind defensively. When Kansas went on its own rough offensive run, Providence bullied inside with Ed Croswell and hit from the outside with Horschler. Just like that, the Friars took the lead. While Providence didn't quite have enough firepower to finish the job, the Friars acquitted themselves well.

Expect Ed Cooley to hit the transfer portal this offseason or face a rebuilding season. Of the seven Providence players to log extended minutes Friday night, six were seniors.

[Mar 25, 2022 at 9:48 pm ET · Kevin Flaherty]

Kansas moving on

No. 1 seed Kansas held off No. 4 Providence 66-61 to reach the Sweet 16. Remy Martin finished with a game-high 23 points for the Jayhawks.

Kansas led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but saw Providence battle back to take a one-point lead with 5:49 left. The Jayhawks responded well, scoring seven straight points and never trailing again.

Kansas will play the winner of the Midwest's No. 10 seed, Miami, and its No. 11 seed, Iowa State, on Sunday to go to the Final Four.

With the win, Kansas now has more wins than any program in NCAA history.