NCAA Tournament: Purdue-Kansas Tipoff Announced

Josh Jackson, who strongly considered going to Michigan State, had 17 points and seven rebounds in Friday’s win.

Kansas is averaging a whopping 95 points per game in the tourney while Purdue is putting up 80 points per contest.

Michigan State had arguably one of the best performances of the first round when it defeated Miami 78-58 on Friday.

Louisville appeared to have MI on the ropes when it opened up a 9-point lead early in the second half.

It will likely be Jackson at next week’s Sweet Sixteen in Kansas City, if the Jayhawks are to reach the Final Four.

“I’m excited. Why wouldn’t we be excited to play in our hometown, in our home state, in front of the best fans in the world?” “I had to play this game”. “And probably a pretty good 30 (to start), but a really good 10”.

Then Josh Jackson heated up, scoring three points at a time the old-fashioned way, with the third coming at the free-throw line, where he is 4 for 4 in the NCAA tournament, and beyond the 3-point semi-circle, where he has made half of his six tournament attempts.

Self praised the way his team fought in a game that he noted was much closer than the 20-point gap would seem to indicate.

“I think they’re good defensively, but it’s a different Kansas team”, Izzo said. “Landen got in foul trouble and he came in prepared and ready to play”. Plus, KU reserve forward Dwight Coleby didn’t miss a beat defensively. Izzo called timeout with 5:28 to play, and Graham responded with a 3-pointer out of the timeout for the Jayhawks. Guard Frank Mason III added 20 points and five assists, and guard Devonte’ Graham had 18 points and four assists.

We’ll have more on the MSU game in the next day or two, but for now, the comments section is yours.

“I have zero interest in winning games”, he said, per Casey Harrison of the State News. And he delivered the exclamation point dagger with a driving, one-handed jam down the middle of the lane.

Jackson was asked about the off-the-court drama in Tulsa and said: “When I step out there on that court, I’m really not thinking about anything else but basketball”. “With seven minutes left, it’s a five-point game”. Mason had 20 points, but his ability to break down Matt McQuaid off the dribble at the outset of Kansas’ key run proved to be too hard to stop.

Graham returned the favor by tossing an alley-oop lob that Mykhailiuk threw down to finish a fast break and cap Kansas’ 13-2 run.

With the 2016-2017 season ending for MSU, focus turns to recruiting where Tom Izzo is still heavily recruiting guard Brian Bowen and center Brandon McCoy who are still uncommitted and have MSU at the top of their lists.