Kansas crawled back from being down 11 early in the first half to take a 67-64 lead with 4:55 to play. However, in what had become a gruesome trend for the Jayhawks in the 2024-25 season, they failed to execute down the stretch and fell 79-72 to the Razorbacks in the Round of 64 on Thursday.

Late turnovers proved to be costly, as Arkansas went started and finished a 7-0 run to take the lead on the backs of Kansas turnovers. The Jayhawks had a chance to tie the game down two with a minute left, but again turned it over to allow Arkansas to close out the game. Kansas finished the game with 16 turnovers, including five in the final four minutes, and made just one field goal over the final five minutes.

Zeke Mayo led the team with 18 points on 5/7 shooting. AJ Storr provided a nice boost from the bench with 15, while Hunter Dickinson scored just 11 on 4/13 shooting.

First half

Arkansas made four of its first five shots, including a three from Trevon Brazile to give the Razorbacks an early lead. Hunter Dickinson took four of Kansas' first six shots, but settled for outside looks, although he did knock down a three. Bill Self called an early timeout after an easy lay-in from Jonas Aidoo gave Arkansas a 9-5 lead in under three minutes.

Kansas couldn't generate any offense, missing five straight baskets along a 2:23 scoring drought heading into the under-16. The Jayhawks did a better job defensively when they limited Arkansas to the half court, but DJ Wagner got out on the break for a transition and-one.

Things started to turn in Kansas' favor as it started to slow down Arkansas. Zeke Mayo scored five straight, a three and a fastbreak layup following a steal, to tie the game at 12-12. The Razorbacks endured a 2/6 stretch from the floor, with both buckets coming from Aidoo, and held a slim 16-15 lead at the under-12.

The Jayhawks took the lead after Mayo hit his second three. Flory Bidunga threw down a monster dunk, AJ Storr hit a three as Kansas looked to get rolling on the offensive end. However, Aidoo continued to give Kansas trouble out of the short roll, hitting two floaters to keep Arkansas close, trailing 26-25 at the under-eight.

Both teams traded points at a high rate, with Arkansas doing a good job getting looks in the paint. Mayo and Storr hit shots from outside as the Jayhawks started to get to the free throw line. Storr denied a dunk attempt from Boogie Fland to keep the game tied 40-40 with 2:54 to play.

Kansas struggled to stop Arkansas at the rim, with the Razorbacks getting two straight buckets inside. Arkansas took a 47-44 lead into halftime following a half where it shot 55.9% from the floor and tallied 24 points in the paint. Aidoo was the catalyst, scoring 16 points with Kansas not having an answer for him.

Second half

Arkansas scored seven straight to open the second half as Kansas failed to generate any offense. Johnell Davis hit a three to put the Razorbacks up 10, 54-44, just over two minutes into the half and Self called an early timeout.

Instead of extending the lead, the Razorbacks let Kansas stay in the game. The Jayhawks whittled the deficit with an 11-4 run as Harris finally started to get going. Kansas switched to a zone defense, and Arkansas started to miss shots from outside. However, the Razorbacks brought down a flurry of offensive rebounds to hold a 59-55 lead with 11:26 to play.

Kansas' zone started to fluster Arkansas' offense, as it turned it over and settled for missed threes. The Jayhawks found themselves down 1, 62-61, after a 6-0 run capped off by a moon-scraping Bidunga dunk.

Arkansas dialed up a lob to Brazile to break the zone, but the Razorbacks remained stymied, going scoreless for over three minutes as the Jayhawks took the lead. Kansas led 67-64 at the under-four following a 6-0 run, powered by a pair of baskets from Adams.

The Razorbacks got a free bucket after a bad Kansas turnover, then took a 68-67 lead after two free throws from Aidoo. Another turnover led to a three from Johnell Davis to put Arkansas up four with 1:43 remaining.

Rylan Griffen hit a late three to put Kansas down three with 12 seconds left. Arkansas called two timeouts after it failed to find an inbounds pass, but the Razorbacks eventually got the ball in and iced the game from the free throw line.