KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It was ugly, but the Kansas Jayhawks managed to beat the North Carolina State Wolfpack 60-57 on Friday night in the third round of the NCAA tournament in St. Louis.
No. 11 seeded NC State jumped out to a 13-3 lead with 14:22 left in the 1st half. The second seeded Jayhawks answered with a 20-4 run and led 23-17 with 6:50 left in the 1st half.
After trailing 33-32 at the half, Kansas (30-6, 16-2 Big 12) went on an 18-7 run and led 50-40 after an alley-oop to junior center Jeff Withey with 11 minutes remaining.
The Wolfpack (24-13, 9-7 ACC) stuck around, and trailed 58-57 with 1:22 left. Kansas junior guard Elijah Johnson scored off an inbounds pass from senior guard Tyshawn Taylor to give KU a 60-57 lead.
NC State junior forward Richard Howell missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer, and the Jayhawks escaped with another ugly win.
The Jayhawks played outstanding defensively, holding NC State to just 28.4% shooting from the field, and 28.6% from beyond the arc. KU had a miserable night offensively. They shot 37.5% from the field, and 7.1% from three-point range. They made 1 of 14 three-point attempts.
Junior forward Thomas Robinson led the Hawks with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Junior center Jeff Withey had 8 points and 10 blocks, 1 block shy of the single game record for an NCAA tournament game. The Wolfpack were led by sophomore forward C.J. Leslie with 18 points.
With the win over NC State, the Jayhawks advanced to their fifth Elite Eight appearance under Bill Self.
KU will face head coach Roy Williams and the No. 1 seed North Carolina Tarheels on Sunday in St. Louis, with a trip to the 2012 Final Four on the line.
