Kansas’s Self-Inflicted Damage, First-Round March Madness Exit Sinks Program to New Low

Self and the Jayhawks suffered their earliest tournament exit since 2006. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

PROVIDENCE—The Kansas Jayhawks had rallied from 10 points down to a three-point lead with a 2-3 zone and a barrage of missed Arkansas Razorbacks shots. The Hogs had scored two points in a span of seven-plus minutes. A little over three minutes remained, and a miserable Kansas season was close to getting a smidge brighter.

Then KJ Adams tried to take off downcourt with a defensive rebound and suddenly went down, turning the ball over in the process. It looked bad in the moment, and it is—an Achilles injury that coach Bill Self said postgame could cause Adams “to lose a year.”