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Kansas Basketball: Malik Newman pushes Jayhawks to their 31st Sweet 16

By Chris Taylor

WICHITA, KS - MARCH 17: Malik Newman
WICHITA, KS - MARCH 17: Malik Newman /
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Kansas Basketball is heading back to the Sweet 16 after defeating Seton Hall in the round of 32. Thanks in large part to Malik Newman.

Kansas Basketball is to the Sweet 16 go together like Jimi Hendrix is to rock and roll. The Jayhawks outran and out-shot the Seton Hall Pirates to advance in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Despite a late run and shooting effort from Khadeen Carrington, Kansas will be playing in the Sweet 16 for the 31st time in school history. They beat the Pirates 83-79.

Angel Delgado for Seton Hall was a monster inside. He almost single-handedly kept the Pirates in the game during the second half. His stat line was absolutely ridiculous as he managed to outplay the Kansas big men all game.

It was a team effort for the Jayhawks, like it usually is. Devonte’ Graham had a quiet game after scoring almost 30 against Penn on Thursday. Lucky for Kansas, he had help.

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Malik Newman is a vital piece for Kansas

Malik Newman not only kept Kansas in the game, he kept them in the lead. As the Pirates made an end of the game to cut the lead to four, Newman hit a sweet shot from beyond the arc and knocked in two free throws to put the Jayhawks up by six.

Newman finished the game with 28 points on 8-14 shooting. He was 4-8 from three. He was clutch at the free throw line down the stretch as well. He knocked down all eight of his attempts. No question Malik Newman has been the Jayhawks MVP as of late.

Since the start of the Big 12 Tournament he has been a completely different player for Bill Self. He will need to continue at this pace if the Jayhawks are to go deep in to the dance.

The Jayhawks can win without Graham making shots

Two days ago the Jayhawks needed the hot hand of Devonte’ Graham. Against a much better, more talented Seton Hall team the Jayhawks were able to take care of business without Graham making much of a difference, shooting-wise at least. He ended up with eight points, most coming from the foul line. He did have nine assists.

Newman did his thing, but he had help as well. Lagerald Vick knocked down 3-4 three pointers as he added 13 points. Svi Mykhailiuk scored 16 points, most of which came from driving the ball. Udoka Azubuike scored 10 and led all Jayhawks with seven rebounds.

As Bill Self said after the game, the Jayhawks are going to have to have at least four guys play really well from here on out to have a chance.

Jayhawks need to figure something out inside

Delgado scored 24 points and grabbed 23 rebounds. Even Penn was able to score inside on Kansas. If Kansas is going to win the whole thing they are going to have to figure out how to get stops inside. Bill Self will also have to figure out how to rebound effectively.

Seton Hall was able to stay close and make Jayhawks fans nervous because of the lack of an inside game. When a team is getting tore up inside, that means the outside defenders have to inch in to help, leaving the opponents shooters free to throw the ball up. There are teams that play real good in and out basketball left in the tournament.

Foul trouble kept Udoka from playing as much as he could have, so in the future, the fouls will need to stay down.

Next: Best seasons all-time for Kansas Basketball

All that said, Kansas is moving on to the sweet, Sweet 16.

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