Kansas holds off Seton Hall 83-79 to reach Sweet 16

WICHITA, Kan. – Malik Newman scored 28 points, Udoka Azubuike stood toe-to-toe with Seton Hall’s bruising Angel Delgado, and No. 1 seed Kansas held off the plucky Pirates 83-79 on Saturday night, sending the Jayhawks to their third consecutive Sweet 16.

Svi Mykhailiuk added 16 points and Lagerald Vick had 13 for the Jayhawks (29-7), who converted on every crucial play down the stretch to advance to the semifinals of the Midwest Region.

They’ll take on the winner of Sunday’s game between Auburn and Clemson in Omaha, Nebraska.

Delgado finished with 24 points and 23 rebounds in a virtuoso effort for the No. 8 seed Pirates (22-11), who snapped a four-game NCAA Tournament skid in the opening round.

Khadeen Carrington finished with 28 points, many of them on 3-pointers in the closing minutes, and Myles Powell added 14 as the pair of guards tried in vain to keep Seton Hall alive.

It was 71-66 with 53 seconds left when Devonte’ Graham made two free throws for Kansas. Carrington kept pouring in shots for Seton Hall, but the Jayhawks kept making foul shots to seal the win.

Azubuike played just three minutes in the Jayhawks’ opener because of a lingering knee injury, but he came up big against Delgado. The 7-foot, 280-pound sophomore played 22 minutes, including some tough defense on his bruising counterpart, rendering Seton Hall’s star far less effective than when Mitch Lightfoot and Silvio De Sousa were trying to guard him.

Kansas led just 31-26 at halftime, when Delgado had already piled up 12 points and 12 rebounds, and was forced to make some significant adjustments in the locker room.

On defense, coach Bill Self called for double-teams on Delgado whenever he got the ball down low, especially when Azubuike was sitting on the bench. On offense, he had his guys throw it to Azubuike on the block or rely on Mykhailiuk – by nature a 3-point specialist – to slash to the basket.

Together, they helped the Jayhawks stretch their lead to double digits.

Delgado kept the Pirates in the game, though. Azubuike went to the bench with four fouls with about 9 minutes left, and coach Kevin Willard instructed his own guys to go right back to their center.

Delgado was so effective that Self gambled by putting ’Doke right back in the game.

Seton Hall closed to 63-59 with 3:22 to go, but Newman answered with a 3-pointer and a pair of foul shots, and the poised Jayhawks never allowed the Pirates to come all the way back.