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UConn's season reaches its end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament as they fall to Kansas, 73-61.
The Jayhawks jumped out to an early lead, taking a 20-point advantage into halftime, and held off multiple UConn surges in the second half to claim the victory and move on to the Sweet 16.
Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden were unstoppable for Kansas. Ellis went an incredible 9-of-12 from the field, scoring 21 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Selden shot 8-of-15 on his way to 21 points and seven rebounds. Kansas outrebounded UConn in the game, 44-24.
Rodney Purvis seemed to be the only Husky who came out of the gate ready to play. He finished with 17 points. Sterling Gibbs picked it up in the second half, finishing with a team-leading 20 points, but it just wasn't enough as Kansas continued to answer back whenever UConn challenged.
The three players who UConn had been able to count on as of late, Daniel Hamilton, Jalen Adams and Shonn Miller, really struggled in this one- almost as if the opposing coaching staff knew about how good they were and crafted some sort of plan for the game to stop them. The Jayhawk defense was stifling from the start, holding UConn to under 30% shooting through the first half and into the second.
The way UConn fought back in the second half was certainly admirable, but it's hard to come back after falling behind by over 20 in the first half. Ultimately two long scoring droughts in the first half were the Huskies' undoing.
This was the final game in a Husky uniform for Phil Nolan, Omar Calhoun, Miller and Gibbs. Thanks to all four for all their contributions to UConn basketball, especially to Nolan and Calhoun for sticking with this program through tough times. The foundation which they stayed to build under a new head coach in a new conference is a strong one. I have no doubt the Huskies are poised for a big 2016-2017 season.