Veteran Jayhawks finally get another taste of the Sweet 16

By Matt Tait     Mar 23, 2016

During each of the previous two seasons, the members of the Kansas University men’s basketball team followed up another successful run through the Big 12 Conference with a disappointing loss in March that brought the season to a close much earlier than many expected.

For players like Wayne Selden, Frank Mason, Brannen Greene and Landen Lucas, that meant going through half of their Kansas careers without making it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

This year, however, a hungrier group of Jayhawks followed up Big 12 title No. 12 with two strong performances in Des Moines a week ago and that brought those same guys, as well as the sophomores and freshmen, to the Sweet 16 for the first time.

Here’s a quick look at how the first day and a half in Louisville has looked through some of their eyes, as the top-seeded Jayhawks (32-4) prepare to take on No. 5 Maryland (27-8) at 8:40 p.m. central Thursday night.

PREV POST

Kansas softball takes twinbill from Evansville

NEXT POST

48581Veteran Jayhawks finally get another taste of the Sweet 16

Author Photo

Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.