The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Southern Illinois Salukis 61-58. KU moves on to face UCLA in the Elite 8 for a chance to go to the Final Four.

Both teams struggled to get things going offensively. KU held a 27-24 halftime lead but SIU came out strong to open the second half and grabbed the lead. The game went back and forth to the very end.

Brandon Rush was the best player last night. He scored 12 points on 6 of 6 shooting. He also grabbed 5 rebounds and had 5 assists. Russell Robinson, Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur all scored 9 points.

Coach Bill Self has now taken KU to 2 Elite 8 appearances in his 4 seasons at KU. Kansas has advanced to the Elite 8 in 4 of the last 6 seasons.