DAVONTE DAVIS

Kansas, playing without ailing coach Bill Self, became the second top seed not to escape the tournament's first weekend after Purdue lost on Friday night to No. Arkansas (22-13) and coach Eric Musselman return to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year. Council's free throw put Arkansas ahead to stay, 68-67, with 24 seconds left. He then rebounded his own miss of the second free throw and made two more to give the Razorbacks a three-point lead. Last year, the Razorbacks knocked out Gonzaga on the way to their second straight Elite Eight.

Kansas’ national title defense ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament when Arkansas’ Ricky Council IV made five free throws in the closing seconds and the eighth-seeded Razorbacks beat the No. 1 seed Jayhawks 72-71.

1 seed has been eliminated from the NCAA tournament, and this time it was the defending national champion. Kansas, the top seed in the West region, blew a 12-point second half lead and was shocked by Arkansas, 72-71, in a second round matchup in Des Moines, Iowa. And after Kansas tied it up, Council put Arkansas ahead for good at the line. This time he made both, extending the Razorbacks’ lead to 70-67 with 21 seconds to go. Up three, Arkansas alertly fouled Kansas on the next possession to stop any chance of a tying 3-pointer.

Alabama has the No. 1 overall NCAA Tournament seed, one of the best players in college basketball and likely a couple of games in its own backyard.

Alabama star Brandon Miller is being accompanied at the NCAA Tournament by an armed security guard.

15 Arkansas 82-64 on Saturday to reach the championship game of the SEC Tournament. Hassan Diarra, whose cutch 3-pointer in the closing seconds of overtime gave the Aggies an 83-80 victory in A&M’s tournament opener, had 12 points. Texas A&M advanced to the title game for the second time since leaving the Big 12 for the SEC. BIG PICTURETexas A&M: With three victories in three days, the Aggies have played their way into an NCAA Tournament berth. Arkansas: Awaits its seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

Quenton Jackson scored 20 points and eighth-seeded Texas A&M took down a ranked opponent for the second straight day, stunning No. 15 Arkansas 82-64 to reach the championship game of the SEC Tournament.

Elijah Harkless scored 21 points and Oklahoma handed No. 12 Arkansas its first loss of the season, frustrating the Razorbacks’ top shooters and their coach in an 88-66 romp.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)INDIANAPOLIS – Baylor had been on the cusp of the Final Four twice before under coach Scott Drew, falling to the eventual champion both times. Baylor is headed there for the first time in 71 years, getting 22 points from MaCio Teague and a dominating defensive performance from Davion Mitchell to beat Arkansas 81-72 on Monday night. The top-seeded Bears (26-2) appeared to be barreling toward ending their Final Four drought with a dominating start. That left the Bears short of the Final Four dating back to when the bracket was only eight teams. He gave Arkansas all kinds of trouble on the pick-and-roll in the second half, finishing with 12 points and six assists.

Davonte Davis hit a short jumper with 2.9 seconds left, and Arkansas advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in 26 years with a 72-70 win over Oral Roberts in the South Region semifinals Saturday night. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight, Oral Roberts stumbled with a series of turnovers and missed shots. “We gave him a pass option, we gave him a dribble option,” Oral Roberts coach Paul Mills said. Oral Roberts knew it had a chance to top it against the Razorbacks after playing them earlier in the season. Oral Roberts led by 10 at halftime in Fayetteville on Dec. 20 before Arkansas bullied the Golden Eagles in the second half for an 87-76 win.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)The Latest on the second round of the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):___7:45 p.m.Florida guard Tyree Appleby has been cleared to play and was in the starting lineup for No. 1 seed in the second round for a third time, joining the 2000 team against Arizona and the 2017 squad against Villanova. Sister Jean Delores Schmidt gave an inspirational pregame prayer to her Loyola Chicago team before the eighth-seeded Ramblers met top-seeded Illinois in Sunday’s second round. UCLA and Abilene Christian face off Monday, assuring that at least one double-digit seed will reach the Sweet 16. This is the first time four teams seeded 13th or worse made it to the second round.

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS – The night before his team's NCAA Tournament opener, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman sat in a hotel room and talked with his son about using full-court pressure against Colgate. Call it “24 Minutes of Hell.”Justin Smith had 29 points and 13 rebounds, and Arkansas shut down high-scoring Colgate to open the NCAA Tournament with an 85-68 win on Friday. Arkansas seemed to have met its revved-up match against Colgate, the small liberal arts school from central New York. Colgate reached the NCAA Tournament in 2019 by picking up the scoring pace and are back again this year after scoring 86.3 points per game, second nationally. Arkansas' athleticism, particularly on defense, turned out to be too much for the Raiders to overcome.

Arkansas (22-6) snapped a 12-game SEC winning streak that tied the program record set by the 1993-94 team that also ended in the SEC Tournament in the semifinals. Losing hurts every time regardless, and we really wanted this game.”The Razorbacks came in leading the SEC with 82.8 points a game. LSU took advantage after Arkansas guard Davonte Davis made a pair of free throws with 11:42 left tying it up at 52. The Tigers LSU reeled off 12 straight points to take the lead for good, and Gaines capped the spurt with a layup with 7:25 left. "I thought he played a really, really good floor game.