Coach John Calipari and his Arkansas basketball team (21-13, 8-10 SEC) beat the Kansas Jayhawks–79-72 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament held at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island.
The first half of the game emphasized high-level basketball as the Razorbacks only incurred three turnovers in their shooting, which was 54.3% full. Jonas Aidoo paced the Razorbacks with 16 points, while D.J. Wagner contributed with 12 points.
Freshman guard Boogie Fland saw some action playing 12 minutes in the first half, scoring 1-of-4 from the field and two perfect free throws while also dishing out some three assists. Kansas shot from long range with 6-11 from the three-point arc and 10 free throw shots. Despite all this, Arkansas still led in halftime with 47-44, the whole first-half clock dominated by a total of eight lead changes and seven ties.
At the beginning of the second half, Arkansas Razorbacks raced out to a 10-point advantage, but as the game wore on, the Razorbacks would show signs of faltering. Poor shooting, along with turnovers, made it difficult for them to figure out how to combat the zone defense played by Kansas, and the Jayhawks knocked on the door, just one point away with 6:37 to go.
The game remained in exciting contention as Arkansas found itself down 67-64 with 4:55 left on the game clock. But the Razorbacks hit back with an all-important 7-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from Davis, and regained a 4-point advantage.
In the clutch, when the game hung in the balance, Davis sank four game-winning free throws that sealed the fate of the game with an Arkansas victory. The Razorbacks defeated Kansas, 79-72, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last week.
They will next face away-seeded 2 St. John’s on Saturday in the second round of the tournament.
