SOUTH REGIONAL

Motivated Stanford denies Kansas

ST. LOUIS - Kansas knows all about Stanford now.

The Cardinal couldn’t deny a slight at a news conference a day earlier fueled them just a bit before pulling their second - and much bigger - upset of the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas freshmen Andrew Wiggins and Wayne Selden Jr.ducked their heads and giggled Saturday when asked about Chasson Randle, Stanford’s leading scorer.

“We definitely saw that video,” Randle said Sunday after the No. 10 seed Cardinal beat the second-seeded Jayhawks 60-57 to advance to the Sweet 16 in the South Regional.

“Coach told me not to talk about it but I definitely took it as a challenge. It was a little big extra motivation.”

Enough for the Cardinal to make the Jayhawks the second No. 2 seed to be knocked out of this tournament in the third round and enough for them to reach the round of 16 for the first time since 2008.

Wiggins was held to four points on 1-for-6 shooting in what could have been his final college game. He accepted his share of the responsibility for the loss.

“I let a lot of people down,” Wiggins said. “If I would have played better, we wouldn’t be in this situation, you know? I blame myself for this.”

Dwight Powell had 15 points and 7 rebounds despite playing with 4 fouls much of the second half and Randle added 13 points, 6 steals and 4 assists for the Cardinal (23-12), who were making their first NCAA appearance since 2008.

“To beat a team like this, a storied program with great coaching, great players, always feels amazing,” Powell said. “So as of right now we’re still in the race and we’re still playing in March, and it feels great.”

Stanford beat No. 7 seed New Mexico on Friday and will have a higher seed for the first time when it faces 11th-seeded Dayton in the regional semifinal in Memphis,Tenn. The Flyers beat No. 3 Syracuse 55-53.

The 6-foot-8 Wiggins, a likely NBA lottery pick if he decides to leave school, was saddled with four turnovers for Kansas (25-10). Wiggins had averaged 28 points the previous four games but the Jayhawks were missing 7-foot freshman Joel Embiid who was sidelined by a stress fracture in his back.

Coach Bill Self thought Stanford’s height up front bothered Wiggins, but added, “I think he had an off-game, too. Give them credit for that, we put him in position to make some plays.”

Josh Huestis, who had the primary responsibility for guarding Wiggins, played 39 minutes and had 6 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

“That was Josh’s assignment and he took it to heart,” Stanford Coach Johnny Dawkins said. “He had help. We just tried to make it as difficult as we could for him to score.”

Self said the game seemed like “a struggle from the opening tip.”

Everything didn’t go right for Stanford, either. The Cardinal were 0 for 9 from 3-point range.

Tarik Black had 18 points and six rebounds for the Jayhawks, but he fouled out with 5:25 to go. Conner Frankamp had 12 points on four three-pointers, the last two in the final 23 seconds to make it close after Stanford had pulled ahead by seven.

UCLA 77, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 60

SAN DIEGO - Jordan Adams scored 19 points and UCLA beat Stephen F. Austin to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.

The fourth-seeded Bruins (27-8) will play Florida, the tournament’s overall topseed, in the South Regional semifinals on Thursday in Memphis. Firstyear Coach Steve Alford has won as many NCAA Tournament games in three days as the Bruins had in the previous five seasons combined.

Alford replaced Ben Howland, who was fired a year ago after the Bruins lost to Minnesota in their NCAA tournament opener. This is UCLA’s first trip to the regionals since Howland got the Bruins to their third consecutive Final Four in 2008.

Stephen F. Austin (32-2), the No. 12 seed, had its 29-game winning streak snapped. The Lumberjacks hadn’t lost in exactly four months.

Sports, Pages 16 on 03/24/2014

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