TULSA, Okla. — One year ago, Kansas’ players covered their heads in towels, drooping in the locker room after an upset loss that seemed unfathomable.
Now, they’re jumping for joy.
In a Southwest Region filled with upsets, the Jayhawks are the last favorite standing after a 73-59 win last night against Illinois ensured they wouldn’t make an opening-weekend exit from the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.
“Those guys have been reminded of Northern Iowa every day for the last 365 days,” coach Bill Self said. “It was good to get that monkey off our back, so to speak, but there’s bigger fish to fry.
“Now it’s time to go play.”
Twin brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris combined for 41 points and 24 rebounds, powering the Jayhawks (34-2) ahead in the second half against an opponent that was no mid-major upstart. Demetri McCamey and Mike Davis both put their names into the NBA draft before returning for one last season with the Fighting Illini (20-14), who were ranked as high as No. 12.
The Morris twins scored 24 of Kansas’ first 29 points in the second half, punctuated by consecutive two-handed slams by Markieff that made it 62-51 with 3:51 to play. After an Illinois turnover at the other end, the twins each followed Tyshawn Taylor in making leaping spins into teammates to start a timeout.
Markieff Morris finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, Marcus Morris had 17 points and 12 boards, and Taylor added 13 points.
Kansas will play 12th-seeded Richmond on Friday in the Southwest Region semifinals, which will feature No. 11 seed VCU against 10th-seeded Florida State on the other side.
The Jayhawks avoided revisiting their loss to another No. 9 seed, Northern Iowa, exactly a year earlier and also on Oklahoma soil.
“I think there was a little bit of extra pressure today,” Self said. “This year’s team had an opportunity to do something that last year’s team didn’t do.”
Davis led the Fighting Illini with 17 points, D.J. Richardson scored 15 and Mike Tisdale chipped in 13 points and 11 rebounds. McCamey finished with just six points and seven assists.