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USATSI

Down to just six players in its rotation amid season-ending injuries to a pair of starters, No. 9 seed Creighton nearly pulled off a shocker vs. No. 1 seed Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. In the end, the Bluejays came up just short in their upset bid, falling 79-72 to the Jayhawks.

Trailing by just one point with under a minute to go, Creighton had the basketball with a chance to take the lead as the program sought its second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. But that's when Kansas star Ochai Agbaji came up with a crucial steal and dunk to put Kansas back ahead 75-72. After another defensive stop, the Jayhawks closed the game out at the free throw line to advance to play the winner of Saturday's game between No. 4 seed Providence and No. 12 seed Richmond in the Sweet 16 next week.

Still, it was a remarkable effort for the Bluejays. Creighton lost second-leading scorer Ryan Kalkbrenner to a knee injury in its first-round win over San Diego State on Thursday. The 7-footer earned Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors after averaging 2.6 blocks per game. His departure from the lineup came as the Bluejays were already navigating the postseason without starting point guard Ryan Nembhard, who was lost for the season due to a wrist injury in late February.

Creighton entered shooting just 30.3% from 3-point range — one of the worst percentages in Division I — but got hot from the outside to stay in the game. The Bluejays hit 12 of 28 attempts from deep, tying their second-most makes from beyond the arc in any game this season.

Arthur Kaluma led the way with 24 for Creighton. As for Kansas, the Jayhawks were led by 20 points off the bench from graduate transfer Remy Martin. The former Arizona State star was the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, but he has been up and down this season amid injuries and a struggle to gel with the KU staff.

His performance against Creighton, however, showed that he may have something in the tank this postseason to help the Jayhawks as they push for a deep tournament run.