The 2017-18 Kansas basketball season ended in stunning fashion on Saturday night in San Antonio, when top-seeded Villanova set a Final Four record with 18 3-pointers in a 95-79 victory over Kansas.
The win moved Villanova into Monday’s national championship game against Michigan and ended KU’s season at 31-8.
The Jayhawks capped the season by reaching their first Final Four since 2012 but fell one game shy of playing for a chance to bring another title back home to Lawrence.
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.
