An emotional University of Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. walks off the court after a defeat against the University of Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament on March 20, 2025 at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI. Chad Cushing|The Kansan
For the third straight season, the Kansas Jayhawks will not be advancing to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Coming into the weekend, the Jayhawks had won 17 straight first-round games and hadn’t lost in the first round since 2006.
KU was the pre-season No.1 ranked team in the nation, but their season was cut shorter than normal as they fell to Arkansas 79-72.
It was a comedy of errors for KU as they stumbled and fumbled their way to 16 turnovers in a game they could have taken control of at numerous junctures in the game.
We’ve got to do a better job evaluating the portal, but I’m happy with the roster we had it just didn’t turn out to be the team we had hoped it was.
-Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
Jonas Aidoo led the way for Arkansas with 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting, adding five rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Johnell Davis chipped in with 18 points knocking down four 3-pointers, while D.J. Wagner finished with 14 points and a team-high six assists.
“This is the price you get when you get one of the lower seeds, middle-of-the-pack seeds you play against a another power five, high major team that was in a power conference. We did it to ourselves”
“This is the price you get when you get one of the lower seeds, middle-of-the-pack seeds you play against a another power five, high major team that was in a power conference. We did it to ourselves”
-Kansas Guard/Forward Rylan Griffen
Zeke Mayo led KU with 18 points, pouring in 4-of-5 from 3-point land, while A.J. Storr scored 15 points off the bench. Hunter Dickinson contributed 11 points and nine rebounds.
KU looked like they were picking up steam in the second half when they erased an 11-point deficit in the second half. They started the half of 2-of-9 but went on a heater mid-way through the second half. Momentum shifted when Bill Self shifted to a zone defense to slow the Razorbacks’ offense.
It was 55-44 until Mayo cashed in on a wide open three from the top of the key to make it 55-47 with 16:23 left in the second half. A scramble for a loose ball led to a run-out for KU that led to Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams connecting on an alley-oop.
KU added in some full-court pressure and Arkansas unraveled slowly but surely. The Razorbacks were completely suffocated by the KU zone and their offense came to a stand still. Before Arkansas knew what hit them, it was 65-64 with just over 5:30 minutes left in the game. Is it a coincidence that KU made their run right when Hunter Dickinson was subbed out with 9:29 left in the 2nd half? I think not.
Dickinson was subbed back in at the 5:25 mark while Kansas still had the lead 65-64. KJ hit a free throw line jumper to give KU a 2-point lead and KU fans started to feel like the tide was turning. They were surging and Arkansas hadn’t scored for over 3 minutes.
With 3:39 minutes left in the game, all KU needed to do was run the clock, take care of the ball and convert on the offensive end. Spoil alert, they didn’t do any of those things I just said.
Arkansas never let KU get too far ahead of them. They answered with some tough buckets off of second chance points. Arkansas was dominant on 2nd chance points outscoring KU 16-9 in that category.
KJ had to leave to the locker room after he came up lame after a rebound at the 3:10 minute mark. It started to come crashing down for KU after that.
Dickinson made the most inexcusable and careless pass that led right to an Arkansas fast break layup. KU would turn it over on their next three possessions and watch their lead evaporate in the blink of an eye.
A three ball from Johnell Davis with 1:43 felt like the punch that knocked KU out for good.
Arkansas did their best to leave the door open for KU turning the ball over with 57 seconds left but KU couldn’t do anything with it. Dajuan Harris tried to feed Dickinson with a bounce pass on the low block but it was smacked away by Davis.
“Special, emotional, definitely was a roller coaster. Just to have the opportunity to come back home, play for our great fans, play in front of my family and friends, meant a lot to me. To be able to throw this uniform on, the name across my chest”
-Kansas Guard Zeke Mayo
KU’s next possession would have been another turnover from Mayo, but they were bailed out by the possession arrow being in their favor. Dickinson had an open look at a three coming off a screen-and-pop, but it hit the back iron and Arkansas would ice the game with free throws, even though it was an adventure to get there.
Rylan Griffen made a late three to cut the lead to three with 12 seconds left, and KU forced Arkansas to call back to back timeouts on out of bounds plays. Once Arkansas got the ball in made their free throws it was all over.
Arkansas moves on to Round 2 in the NCAA Tournament after starting the season 0-5.
KU will pack up and go home after being the No.1 ranked team in the country.
Where do they go from here? First of all, Bill Self and his staff need to evaluate the portal better than they have. A good portion of Kansas’ roster came from transfers from other schools.
Zeke Mayo transferred from North Dakota State and was an excellent addition, and was consistent for the better part of year. Despite a cold stretch at the ladder part of Big XII play, he more than made up for it with hot shooting in the Big XII Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. He was KU’s best (really their only) shooter and most reliable scorer. A Lawrence native, Mayo was one of only a handful of players on this year’s team that I felt embodied that Bill Self spirit and knew what it meant to be a Jayhawk. It’s unfortunate a player like him didn’t get to have more time here. Knowing how much the program meant to him, I wish he could have been a part of a better team. Of everyone on the roster, he’s the only player that has a shot at making an NBA roster.
AJ Storr came over from Wisconsin and was almost a non-factor until the Big XII Tournament. For a player who averaged 16 points a game and was second-team Big 10 in 2023-2024, he was the biggest disappointment in my opinion. He only averaged 6 points a game and could barely see minutes on the floor for Self. Anyone that has followed Self’s career knows you don’t play for him unless you know how to compete on the defensive end. Storr struggled with that aspect of his game all year. It affected his confidence until he broke out in the Big XII Tournament for a season-high 19 points against UCF. A Junior, Storr will have to decide if he wants to return to KU or enter the portal. I would love to have him back as a Senior leader on this team. I think he will improve with another year in Self’s system. His performance late in the season swayed my opinion on him.
Rylan Griffen transferred from Alabama and also was a major disappointment. Coming into the season He shot 39% from three for Alabama in 2024 but had a terrible shooting season in Lawrence shooting 33% from three and 37% from the field. He showed some promise defensively but it wasn’t consistent enough to convince Bill Self to play him more. That being said, he’s a guy I wouldn’t mind having back at KU next year. At 6’6″, he’s a versatile wing and his archetype is something college teams covet. Similar to Storr, a second season in Lawrence would do wonders for Griffen who will be a Senior next season.
David Coit transferred in from Northern Illinois and didn’t have the season he wanted to have. He went from playing 37 minutes per game and scoring 21 points per game to only scoring 5 points per game and 15 minutes per game. I thought he was solid, but not spectacular. He seemed to struggle with coming off the bench and finding a role for him. Being a 5’11”, he wasn’t much of a defender on the perimeter either.
Shakeel Moore transferred from Mississippi State but didn’t find much playing time under Self. He showed some skills in the time that he was given. He’s a good athlete and a player KU could’ve used down the stretch, but Self couldn’t squeeze him into the regular rotation.
KU cant afford to miss on that many transfers. Self and his staff have to get it together. You heard it straight from him.
They were missing several of the elements of every great KU team. There was no Sherron Collins, no Davonte Graham, no Frank Mason. Bill Self has had the most success with a scoring point guard. Point guards control the game’s pace, and the Jayhawks were missing that downhill threat that would pull in the defense and create open lanes and wide-open looks for three-point shooters.
They tried to get their patented streaky shooting two-way wing player, but AJ Storr and Rylan Griffen did not fit well with this roster. Self likes his wings to be defensive stoppers. Think of Kelly Oubre, Wayne Selden, Josh Jackson, Marcus Garrett, and Andrew Wiggins. The problem this year was none of the wings understood how to guard anyone, and Self ain’t having that.
KU was also missing their classic bigs. KJ Adams fit the mold of the type of energy giving forward Self loves. For Adams’ strengths, he was not a good shooter outside of 15 feet and is not a natural basketball player. He’s a great athlete but not a fluid athlete when it comes to basketball. At 6’7” he’s undersized for a post player and isn’t exactly graceful on the court. He has limitations but he was the heart and soul of KU for the last three seasons.
Then there’s Hunter Dickinson the stat merchant. His time at KU will be remembered as some of the worst and most unenjoyable basketball KU fans have ever seen. He would put up good numbers at the end of the game, but he always seemed to do something stupid that cost us a game countless times. It’s no surprise that Dickinson threw the initial turnover that started the Arkansas run that won them the game. I think Dickinson is a skilled offensive player. But he was extremely soft and mentally weak ESPECIALLY in clutch moments. I’ll be happy to see him move on from my Alma mater and curious to see how he does professionally.
All is not lost for KU fans. We still got this guy coming to Lawrence this fall.
Bank On It! 
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