ST. LOUIS — Andrew Wiggins had his head in his hands, tears streaming down his cheeks in the silent Kansas locker room.
This wasn’t how the NBA lottery pick-to-be expected his freshman year to end.
Wiggins and the second-seeded Jayhawks were stunned by No. 10 Stanford, 60-57, in a South Regional third-round contest at the Scottrade Center Sunday afternoon.
“I let my team down,” the gifted freshman said in a whisper after scoring a mere four points — his second-lowest output of the season — on 1-of-6 shooting. “I didn’t bring it.”
The year began with unfair comparisons to LeBron James, and though Wiggins didn’t live up to the ridiculous hype, he did lead the Jayhawks to a 10th straight Big 12 regular-season title. He entered the tournament talking about being more aggressive, yet he scored a quiet 19 points in an opening-round victory over No. 15 Eastern Kentucky and was a non-factor against Stanford.
“It hurts,” said Wiggins, who declined to address his future plans. “If I played better, I don’t think we would’ve been in that situation.”
The Cardinal (22-12), which needed a strong finish just to reach the field of 68 and upset No. 7 New Mexico in its opening game, is now in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008 — the last time it made the tournament.
Stanford will face No. 11 Dayton, another surprise Sweet 16 qualifier, in the South Regional semifinals in Memphis on Thursday.
It was a nightmare of a game for Wiggins, considered by many the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Struggling against Stanford’s length, he was hesitant and badly off target, committing three more turnovers (four) than made field goals (one), and coming up small in the biggest game of his almost certain one-year college career. After this performance, those NBA teams that have been tanking for his services may have doubted their approach.
“I blame myself for this,” Wiggins said. “I just couldn’t get in a rhythm. I’m one of the key pieces to this team and I didn’t really key in today.”
Senior forward Tarik Black kept Kansas (25-10) in the game, scoring 18 points and grabbing six rebounds, but Kansas’ starting backcourt again struggled mightily. Naadir Tharpe and Wayne Selden Jr. combined for seven points on 3-of-13 shooting.
Despite the shooting troubles, the Jayhawks erased a seven-point second-half deficit once coach Bill Self went to a fast lineup and pressured Stanford, leading to turnovers and run-outs.
Perry Ellis’ fast-break slam pulled Kansas even at 49 with 5:11 left, but Stanford answered with poise and precision, reeling off nine of the next 11 points. Dwight Powell (15 points, seven rebounds) hit the biggest shot, a tough bank shot in the lane, after Ellis’ dunk, and Josh Huestis’ offensive rebound and basket extended the lead to 53-49 with 3:15 left.
Kansas didn’t seem to be taking Stanford seriously on Friday, when Wiggins and Selden appeared not to know anything about Chasson Randle, the Cardinal’s leading scorer. Stanford took note.
“It wasn’t just a stab at me, it was a stab at our team,” said Randle, who had 13 points and six steals. “And we took it as a challenge.”