The lone No. 1 seed remaining within the males’s tournament lived as much as that label within the first half of its Sweet 16 recreation Friday. The Kansas Jayhawks, hoping to halt the development of prime canine happening, lead No. 4 Providence, 26-17, on the break.
A day after Gonzaga and Arizona — the tournament’s prime two total seeds — met their finish, Kansas seemed assured and succesful within the first half.
Senior guard Remy Martin leads Kansas with 13 factors off the bench. Martin, a high-profile switch from Arizona State, has change into coach Bill Self’s not-so-secret offensive weapon on this tournament, coming off the bench to attain 15 factors within the first spherical and 20 within the second. Against the Friars, he began sizzling by taking pictures 6 for 9 from the sphere.
Providence, which has earned a status because the “luckiest” crew on this tournament due to its document in shut video games, has to this point confronted simply double-digit seeds. The Friars beat South Dakota State within the first spherical and held off Richmond within the second.
But Kansas poses an entirely completely different kind of problem as a constant championship contender and the tournament’s fourth total seed. In the primary half, Providence struggled to seek out any sort of offensive rhythm in opposition to the size and athleticism of the Jayhawks, taking pictures simply 20 % from the sphere. Coach Ed Cooley’s crew went 1 for 13 from past the arc.
With Providence underneath wraps on the defensive finish, the Kansas offense had loads of time to slowly construct a lead. The Jayhawks pushed their margin to double digits with 5 minutes remaining earlier than halftime, however Providence guard Al (*16*) sunk three free throws simply earlier than the break to chop the result in single digits.