Ncaa Basketball Upset: St. John’s Sends Kansas Packing with Darling’s Buzzer-Beater; Pitino vs. Self Makes History
The 2026 ncaa basketball second-round game ended in dramatic fashion when St. John’s guard Dylan Darling drove past a Kansas defender and scored a buzzer-beating layup that sealed a 67-65 victory and a Sweet 16 berth for the Red Storm — the program’s first trip to that stage since 1999. The finish capped a tense closing sequence in which Kansas had tied the game on free throws and used intentional fouls to try to disrupt the inbounds play.
Background and game details
The decisive play unfolded with roughly four seconds remaining. Dylan Darling found a lane and blew past Elmarko Jackson to convert the game-winner before time expired. That basket represented Darling’s only points of the night; he also finished with four assists and two steals and had missed his first four shots, which had all been 3-point attempts.
St. John’s frontcourt balance helped carry the offense: Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins each scored 18 points, with Hopkins contributing multiple 3-pointers. For Kansas, Darryn Peterson led with 21 points, while Melvin Council Jr. added 15 and Flory Bidunga had 12. Kansas tied the game with Peterson’s two free throws with 13 seconds remaining, then used fouls to force an inbounds situation intended to prevent a set play; the strategy left roughly four seconds before the final possession.
The result marks a historic breakthrough for St. John’s, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999, and it extends a troubling trend for Kansas: a fourth consecutive season eliminated in the tournament’s second round.
Ncaa Basketball Coaching History at Stake
This matchup carried an additional storyline beyond the final seconds on the floor. Rick Pitino, St. John’s head coach, and Bill Self, Kansas head coach, met in a rare pairing of coaches with multiple national championships, creating a coaching subplot with historical implications for the sport.
Rick Pitino is the only head coach in NCAA history to have won national championships at two different schools, a distinction noted in the game context; if he were to advance further, he could set another benchmark by guiding a third program to a title. Bill Self, who has led Kansas for more than two decades, has two national championships to his name under long-term stewardship of the program. That contrast — Pitino’s cross-program championship pedigree versus Self’s sustained tenure and success at one institution — framed the game as more than a single upset, but as a point of comparison in modern college coaching trajectories.
The coaching dynamic also shaped tactical choices late in the contest. Kansas used intentional fouls to try to control the clock and force St. John’s into pressure; ultimately the approach left enough time for the inbounds play that produced Darling’s drive to the basket.
Expert perspectives, ripple effects and what comes next
From the participant perspective, Dylan Darling summarized the night’s tenor succinctly: “It was ugly, but we got it done. ” Darling is identified as a guard for the St. John’s Red Storm, and his comment underscored a performance that was decisive despite personal shooting struggles earlier in the game.
Rick Pitino, St. John’s head coach, and Bill Self, Kansas head coach, emerge from the encounter with contrasting narratives. Pitino’s trajectory includes national titles at multiple programs, while Self’s tenure features long-term stability and multiple championships. The game added a competitive chapter to each coach’s legacy and highlighted coaching influence in late-game strategy and personnel deployment.
Regionally, the upset reshapes the tournament bracket for the East Coast program and removes a perennial contender from contention, with implications for seeding expectations and television and fan attention as the tournament progresses. The result will also be examined in evaluations of player development and roster construction: St. John’s mixed perimeter volume with interior scoring, while Kansas mounted a significant comeback from a double-digit deficit late in the second half.
Statistically, the box score offered contrasting footprints: St. John’s converted 11 3-pointers in portions of the game and finished with subpar overall shooting efficiency, while Kansas staged a near-comeback driven by late free-throw shooting and defensive pressure. The interplay of turnover timing, foul management and timeout use is likely to be dissected by analysts and coaching staffs alike.
As the Red Storm advance, the pairing of two multi-championship coaches and the manner of the finish prompt a broader question for ncaa basketball: will this game be remembered primarily as a singular upset or as a turning point in the coaching narratives of Pitino and Self, and what does it signal about late-game tactics in tournament play?
