OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Malik Newman and top-seeded Kansas got past their Elite Eight road block on Sunday, knocking off second-seeded Duke 85-81 in overtime in a thrilling Midwest Region finale that clinched the Jayhawks’ first trip to the Final Four since 2012.

Newman scored all 13 of the Jayhawks’ points in overtime and finished with a career-high 32 to lead Kansas (31-7). The Jayhawks will face fellow top seed Villanova in San Antonio on Saturday after snapping a two-game losing skid in the regional finals.

This was college basketball at its best – two blue bloods trading blows for 45 minutes in what was arguably the best game of the tournament so far, one that featured 18 lead changes and 11 ties.

But Newman drilled his fifth and final 3 from the corner to make it 81-78 with 1:49 left. Newman followed with four straight free throws, and the Jayhawks defense stiffened enough to knock the favored Blue Devils out of the tournament.

Trevon Duval scored 20 points for Duke. Freshman star and future lottery pick Marvin Bagley added 16 points and 10 rebounds in what could have been his final game for Duke (29-8), which fell shy its first Final Four trip since winning the national title in 2015.

Grayson Allen had 12 points for the Blue Devils, but the senior’s 10-foot bank shot at the regulation buzzer went in and then out of the rim before spinning away to force overtime.

THE BIG PICTURE

Kansas: This might be the unlikeliest of coach Bill Self’s three Final Four squads. They are not stacked with obvious future NBA starters and they lost three times at home this season. But the Jayhawks banded together to win the Big 12’s regular season and conference titles and now the Midwest Region. By doing so, they proved to their coach that they were hardly soft – a claim that Self had made often earlier in the season.

Duke: The Blue Devils might see four of their freshman stars bolt for the NBA Draft, an expected exodus led by Bagley, a likely top-five pick. Duke will also lose Allen, one of the best players in school history. Don’t cry for Coach K, who has four five-star recruits committed to join the program next year. But this season will likely be remembered as a lost opportunity for a program that expects to make the Final Four more often than not.

KDWPT

PRATT – More than 500 student athletes will be heading to Pratt on Saturday, April 7, 2018 to compete at the state level, but they won’t need cleats or kneepads – instead, they’ll need a bow and arrow.

The 9th annual Kansas Archery in the Schools State Tournament will be held at Blythe Family Fitness Center, 219 W 5th St, Pratt, where students from the across the state will compete for school bragging rights and academic scholarships. Seniors will shoot for two $1,000 scholarships, made possible by the Kansas Bowhunters Association (KBA), Peoples Bank in Pratt, and the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP).

This year’s tournament is hosted by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT), and spectators will have an opportunity to visit with department staff, as well as members of the KBA, National Wild Turkey Federation, and Pheasants Forever.

Pratt Rotary Club members played a vital role in bringing the tournament to the Pratt community by providing a $3,000 district grant which covered the cost of a 200-foot safety curtain.

Archers will compete for individual and team honors, as well as the opportunity to compete at the National Archery in the Schools competition. Divisions include Elementary School (grades 4-5), Middle School (grades 6-8), and High School (grades 9-12). Each competitor will shoot 30 arrows over two rounds. Rounds consist of fifteen arrows from 10 meters and fifteen arrows from 15 meters. A bullseye scores 10 points, so a perfect score would be 300. A team is made up of 12-24 shooters, and the team score is the sum of the top 12 scores.

Operating under the umbrella of KDWPT and NASP, the Kansas Archery in the Schools program promotes international-style target archery among students in grades 4-12. NASP introduces archery to young people, teaching a life skill that is fun and safe.

ATLANTA (AP) — Sister Jean and the Loyola Ramblers are headed to the Final Four.

This improbable NCAA Tournament just took its craziest turn yet.

Ben Richardson scored 23 points and 11th-seeded Loyola romped to a 78-62 victory over Kansas State on Saturday night, capping off a remarkable run through the bracket-busting South Regional.

The Ramblers (32-5) matched the lowest-seeded team ever to reach the Final Four, joining LSU (1986), George Mason (2006) and VCU (2011). Those other three all lost in the national semifinals.

Don’t bet against Loyola, which emerged from a regional that produced a staggering array of upsets. The South became the first regional in the tournament history to have the top four seeds — including overall No. 1 Virginia — knocked out on the opening weekend.

In the end, it was the Ramblers cutting down the nets.

After three close calls, this one was downright easy.

“Final Four! Final Four!” the scarf-clad faithful from Chicago chanted as the final seconds ticked off.

Loyola continued to be inspired by its 98-year-old team chaplain, Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt, who led a prayer in the locker room before the game, then was pushed onto the court in her wheelchair to join the celebration when it was done. Joining the celebration were Jerry Harkness and other members of the Ramblers’ 1963 national championship team, which played one of the most socially significant games in college basketball history on its way to the title.

It was known as the “Game of Change,” matching the Ramblers and their mostly black roster against an all-white Mississippi State team at the height of the civil rights movement, setting up an even more significant contest three years later. Texas Western, with five African-American starters, defeated Kentucky in the national championship game.

Even with a title on their resume, this performance came out of nowhere. Loyola had not made the tournament since 1985 until they broke the drought by winning the Missouri Valley Conference.

Then, as if benefiting from some sort of divine intervention, the Ramblers won their first three tournament games by a total of four points.

Finally, with the Final Four on the line, they turned in a thoroughly dominating performance.

Not the least bit intimidated, Loyola came out in attack mode right from the start against a ninth-seeded Kansas State team that rode a stifling defense to the regional final. Moving the ball just as you’d expect from a veteran squad with two seniors and two fourth-year juniors in the starting lineup, the Ramblers kept getting open looks and shot 56 percent in the opening half, opening up a 36-24 lead.

The Ramblers really turned it on in the second half.

Richardson swished a 3-pointer as he was fouled by Kamau Stokes, winding up flat on his back while flashing a huge smile with his arms raised above his head. He knocked down the free throw to complete the four-point play, stretching the lead to 44-29.

Things went so well for the Ramblers that they actually increased their lead during the first television timeout of the second half. The officials went back and reviewed a replay of Donte Ingram’s jumper in the opening minute of the period, ruling he was behind the 3-point line when he released the shot to change the margin from 46-33 to 47-33.

Not that it mattered at the end.

BIG PICTURE

Loyola: While Richardson was the top scorer, the Ramblers got contributions from everyone. Donte Ingram and Marques Townes were also in double figures, while burly freshman center Cameron Krutwig came up big under the basket.

Kansas State: The Wildcats were surrendering an average of 53.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament and had not allowed more than 59 in their first three games. Loyola went by that with more than 9 minutes to go, which was more than enough to hold off the Wildcats even when things got a little sloppy in the closing minutes.

UP NEXT

Loyola: The Ramblers are headed to San Antonio next Saturday to meet the winner of the West Regional final between Florida State and Michigan. They will try to become the lowest-seeded team to win a national championship, a distinction held by Villanova’s eighth-seeded team in 1985.

Kansas State: After their impressive run in the tournament, the Wildcats will face heightened expectations next season. All five starters, plus ailing forward Dean Wade, can return next season.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — In a tournament defined by unpredictability, there will finally be a regional final that makes sense.

No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Duke will square off in the Midwest final Sunday for the last spot in the Final Four — and the stakes are huge even by Elite Eight standards.

Mike Krzyzewski is looking to break UCLA legend John Wooden’s record of 12 Final Four appearances.

Kansas coach Bill Self, who recently joined Krzyzewski and Wooden in the Naismith Hall of Fame, is hoping to snap a two-year losing streak in regional finals and a 2-7 personal record in Elite Eights.

After scores of upsets produced some rather strange matchups elsewhere, it’ll be “Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk” vs. Coach K and the Blue Devils in a classic finale in Omaha.

“It’s great when you have two programs of this nature, this status in the history of our game play for a Final Four berth. I think it’s great for the sport,” Krzyzewski said.

As for the latest chapter in the Kansas-Duke series, the top-seeded Jayhawks (30-7) are more like a plucky underdog — at least by their high standards — while second-seeded Duke (29-7) and its cadre of ridiculously talented freshmen appear to be rounding into title-contending form. Duke is a betting favorite in the game even though it is the lower seed.

The Jayhawks have clawed their way into their third straight regional final as a No. 1 behind teamwork and a toughness that wasn’t always there in the winter.

Their last two wins, over Seton Hall and Clemson, came by just 4 points apiece — but Kansas has won six straight postseason games after tearing through the Big 12 Tournament.

“It’ll be a tough game. But it’s going to be a fun game,” Self said. “We know we’ve got our hands full. But we like to think they have their hands full too.”

Duke cruised through to the Sweet 16, but then had to survive a furious challenge from ACC rival Syracuse and its bewildering 2-3 zone on Friday night. The young Blue Devils have flourished under the leadership of senior captain Grayson Allen, who is 12-2 in the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re both here for a reason. It’ll be a good one,” Duke star Marvin Bagley III said.

Here are some of the story lines to look out for when the Blue Devils face the Jayhawks:

GRAHAM VS. GRAYSON

For all the talk about the young stars on each team, each squad is run by a star senior guard coming off a so-so game. Devonte’ Graham, the Big 12 player of the year for Kansas, shot just 4 of 12 from the field in an 80-76 victory over Clemson, and Allen was just 3 of 14 on 3s in a 69-65 win over the Orange. But both Krzyzewski and Self expect their veteran stars to bounce back. “He’s the best intangibles guy we’ve ever had here,” Self said of Graham.

MB3 VS. DOKE

It’s a good thing that Kansas sophomore big man Udoka Azubuike is fully healthy after a strained knee ligament kept him out of the Big 12 Tournament, because Bagley promises to be a handful. Bagley had 22 points and seven rebounds against Syracuse — no small feat considering how long and athletic the Orange were. Azubuike played an NCAA Tournament-high 25 minutes against Clemson, scoring 14 points with 11 rebounds. Keeping Azubuike out of foul trouble will be crucial for Kansas.

BLUE VS. BLUE IN THE BIG DANCE

Duke and Kansas have met five previous times in the NCAA Tournament, most notably in 1991 when the Blue Devils beat the Jayhawks 72-65 for the first of two straight NCAA championships. The two teams last met in the Big Dance in the 2003 Sweet 16, when Kansas upended Duke 69-65 behind coach Roy Williams, who would leave Lawrence to take over North Carolina shortly after that season ended.

THE NUMBERS

Kansas is ranked second in all-time wins with 2,247, and Duke is fourth at 2,144. …The Jayhawks will be making their 22nd appearance in the Elite Eight, third-most in Division I history, while Duke will play in their 21st regional final. …The Blue Devils are 9-6 against No. 1 seeds …Kansas clinched its third consecutive 30-win season on Friday, a few hours before Krzyzewski picked up his 1,100th career victory. …Self is 2-5 in the Elite Eight at Kansas. But he also lost regional finals at Tulsa and Illinois before taking the KU job.

HE SAID IT

“When you start thinking about (breaking records) you can rationalize. And rationalization is one of the things that stops people from continued excellence, because they live in the past. And then they stop adapting and they stop getting hungry,” Krzyzewski said when asked about potentially passing Wooden in Final Four appearances.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — For the third year in a row, Kansas made it through the Sweet 16 — although not before Clemson tried its hardest to add another wild chapter to an already unbelievable tournament.

The top-seeded Jayhawks brought at least a temporary halt to the insanity of this March, withstanding a ferocious rally by fifth-seeded Clemson on Friday for a too-close-for-comfort, 80-76 victory.

Malik Newman led the Jayhawks (30-7) with 17 points in a one-time runaway that got much closer and, quite frankly, won’t mean much to KU fans if their team can’t finish the job in the Midwest Region final Sunday. The Jayhawks will play Duke in what will be the nation’s only 1 vs. 2 regional final; the Blue Devils beat Syracuse 69-65.

As a top seed the last two seasons, Kansas made it through the regional semifinals, only to flop a game shy of the Final Four both times. In fact, this marks the sixth time Bill Self’s team has been seeded first since KU won it all in 2008; the Jayhawks haven’t made the Final Four one of those times.

“I think about it all the time. I just told the guys in the locker room…this year, we’ve got to get over the hump,” said senior Devonte’ Graham, who had 16 points.

Still, it could’ve ended on Friday — in horrifying fashion — after Clemson stormed back from a 20-point deficit that stunned a crowd filled mostly with fans from Lawrence and surrounding areas, which are only a few hours from Omaha.

“We just kind of played not to lose down the stretch,” Self said.

Clemson trailed 62-42, but climbed to within six with 2:27 left. Graham’s offensive rebound after a Svi Mykhailiuk miss at the 1:57 mark allowed the Jayhawks to run almost a minute off the clock.

Kansas didn’t score after Graham’s rebound, and the Tigers got the next board for a chance to cut it to a one-possession game. But Shelton Mitchell and Gabe DeVoe each missed from beyond the arc. From there, Kansas overcame a dogged Clemson press just long enough to ensure that the Tigers couldn’t pull any closer until the tail end.

DeVoe had a career-high 31 for Clemson (25-10), which couldn’t replicate the magic it showed in beating Auburn by 31 to reach its first Sweet 16 in 21 years.

“We didn’t have our best game. Sometimes that’s not easy to keep fighting like that,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.

PIVOTAL MOMENT

Clemson had scored five straight points to cut KU’s lead to 35-27 late in the first half when Elijah Thomas, after a review, was called for a flagrant foul. Silvio De Sousa knocked down the free throws, Lagerald Vick buried a 3 and Kansas cruised into halftime ahead 40-27. Vick, Newman and Graham then opened the second half with 3s to extend the lead to 20.

BIG PICTURE

One of the most encouraging signs for Kansas was that it jumped ahead by 13 at halftime despite a 1-for-7 start by Graham, the Big 12 player of the year. Big man Udoka Azubuike looked strong in his first start of the tournament with 14 points and 11 rebounds in a tournament-high 25 minutes.

FOR REAL?

What a wild 12 months it’s been for Brownell, the Clemson coach. He entered the season on the hot seat after six straight seasons without even making the NCAA Tournament. But the Tigers reached the regional semifinals for the first time since 1997 even after losing Donte Grantham, arguably their best player. The big question next is whether 2017-18 will prove a one shot wonder or the start of something big in the Upstate. Clemson has spent money on facilities to become a basketball school — but will it ever get out of the shadow cast by Dabo Swinney’s football team?

TIGERS CLAW BACK

For the final 12 minutes, Clemson played like the team that throttled Auburn to earn a crack at the Jayhawks. The Tigers didn’t turn it over once down the stretch, and they finished 14 of 19 at the free throw line — which was a strong point all year. But while Kansas hardly looked like a No. 1 seed down the stretch, it did improve to 25-1 this season when leading at the break.

DOKE LOOKED DOPE

Azubuike finished with his sixth double-double of the season. His presence forced Clemson to give more space to KU’s shooters, who went 10 of 22 on 3s.

HE SAID IT

“This is the team everyone would have thought … would not be in this game. We’ve got a legitimate shot to go to San Antonio. I think we’ll play with no ‘what ifs.’ I think we’ll be loose,” Self said.

VEGAS KNOWS

Kansas came in as a 4 ½-point favorite — a number that didn’t look to be in play … until it was.

ATLANTA (AP) — No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago (31-5) vs. No. 9 seed Kansas State (25-11)

Final, South Regional, Atlanta, Saturday, approximately 6:09 p.m.

BOTTOM LINE: Loyola boasts the nation’s longest active winning streak, 13 games. The Ramblers have extended the streak in the NCAA Tournament by excelling in the clutch, winning its four NCAA Tournament games by a combined four points, including Thursday night’s 69-68 win over Nevada. Kansas State is winning with defense and held Kentucky to a season low for points in Thursday night’s 61-58 win. Kentucky was the seventh straight opponent held under 59 points by the Wildcats.

HIGH SCHOOL BUDDIES: Kansas State senior Mason Schoen was a teammate of Loyola’s Clayton Custer at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland, Park, Kansas. Custer also played on the same AAU team with Kansas State junior Amaad Wainwright.

HOT SHOOTING: Loyola shot 75 percent from the field in the second half against Nevada, making 18 of 24 shots.

LONG TIME COMING: The Ramblers’ lone Final Four appearance came when they won the championship in 1963. Kansas State’s most recent of four Final Four appearances came in 1964. The Wildcats are in their first regional final since 2010, when they lost to Butler.

QUOTABLE: “I don’t like what is going on in our business, to be honest. You know … you can’t do anything about it. If it is that bad and some of the stuff comes out, it needs to be changed, and I hope it does get changed. But all I can worry about is myself and making sure that I do things the right way and help them develop, and I know when the paper comes to your door or the news comes on, my kids don’t have to worry that I did something I’m not supposed to.” — Kansas State coach Bruce Weber on scandals in college basketball.