Strong second half lifts Kansas Jayhawks past Miami Hurricanes, to first Final Four since 2018

CHICAGO — Kansas coach Bill Self never ruled out the possibility of his team reaching the Final Four.

He didn't feel as certain as he did in 2020, when Kansas spent the final month of the season ranked No. 1 before the coronavirus pandemic canceled the NCAA tournament. This Jayhawks version had looked elite at times, like when it thrashed defending national champ Baylor by 24 points on Feb. 5. The Jayhawks also had looked vulnerable, like when they lost to Kentucky by 18 at home on Jan. 29, or when they endured consecutive 10-point road defeats against Baylor and TCU.

Kansas showed both sides of itself in Sunday's Elite Eight matchup with Miami. Fortunately for Self and the top-seeded Jayhawks, their best emerged at the right time, as they used a dominant second half to submerge Miami 76-50 at the United Center. Kansas erased a six-point halftime deficit to reach its first Final Four since 2018 — fourth under Self — where it will face Villanova this coming Saturday in New Orleans.

The 26-point win marked the largest in the Elite Eight by any team since 1992.

Kansas outscored Miami 42-20 in the paint Sunday, including 22-8 in the second half, and improved to 17-1 this season when scoring 40+ paint points. Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack combined for 20 paint points on 10-14 field-goal attempts.

«That was about as well as we can play the second half,» said Self, who improved to 4-7 in Elite Eight play and 4-5 at Kansas. «These guys earned it. So proud for them and proud for our program.»

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Kansas' 26-point win tied for the largest among teams that had trailed NCAA tournament games at halftime. In 1964, Princeton defeated VMI by 26 points in the first round after trailing by