Why KU subbed out Kohl Rosario for Elmarko Jackson on final play vs. St. John’s
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- Dylan Darling banked a buzzer-beating layup to lift St. John’s 67-65.
- Kansas failed to stop a quick drive with roughly 3.9 seconds left after fouling.
- Bill Self explained putting in Elmarko Jackson to give KU its “best defensive team.”
Kansas redshirt-sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson sat at his locker with a T-shirt draped over his entire face — including his mouth — as he quietly discussed the buzzer-beating layup by Dylan Darling that gave St. John’s a 67-65 victory over the Jayhawks in an NCAA Tournament Round of 32 game on Sunday at Viejas Arena.
“He made a quick move, drove right and then kind of wedged in at an angle on the basket,” whispered Jackson.
He was the chosen defender on junior guard Darling, who dashed past Jackson at the top of the key, raced through the lane and banked in a one-handed layup, that upon dropping caused a wild celebration at the end of the court.
It was Darling’s only hoop in 18 minutes.
“I didn’t think they were going to draw a play for him,” Jackson said. “I mean, there were like three seconds left (when Darling received the ball after an inbounds near halfcourt). “I wasn’t expecting him to drive to the basket. I was thinking more of like a pull-up jump shot.”
He was asked if it was possible for big man Flory Bidunga or guard Darryn Peterson to perhaps help on the drive. They were in the vicinity of the play.
“Yeah, it just happened fast,” Jackson said.
Peterson went out to guard a man in the corner. Bidunga did ultimately trail the play but was too late for a rejection.
“I should have got the stop there,” Jackson said in a barely audible voice.
Of the play, Darryn Peterson (21 points, 36 minutes) said: “With the time left on the clock, I knew whoever had the ball was going to try to shoot it, so I didn’t think Zuby was getting it.”
He was referring to former KU forward Zuby Ejiofor, who finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes.
Jackson had been inserted in the game with six seconds left for Kohl Rosario, who sparked the Jayhawks’ 14-point second-half comeback with five huge points and two rebounds in 10 minutes.
KU coach Bill Self explained the substitution: “We tried to get our best defensive team in there. So that was why we did that. Obviously it wasn’t a very good effort on us the last, what was it, 3.9? We had to guard four bounces, and we didn’t guard four bounces. Yes, that was really disappointing. But Kohl did a great job. That’s hard not to play and then be inserted in and do what he did in a short amount of time. I thought he was great.”
Senior Melvin Council Jr., who finished his final game at KU with 15 points and nine rebounds in 39 minutes, also discussed the strategy on defense on the off-balance game-winning layup by Darling.
“St. John’s is a good team. It was a great layup. If it was a ball screen, we would have switched it,” Council stated.
Self had an interesting strategy in the final 13 seconds. Peterson tied the game by hitting two clutch free throws at 0:13. With fouls to give before St. John’s went into the bonus, KU did indeed start fouling.
First Rosario fouled Darling right after the free throw makes, officially at 0:13. Then Tre White (four points, 28 minutes) fouled Ejiofor at 0:11. Next, Rosario fouled Darling at 0:06. And Bidunga (12 points, five boards, 31 minutes) fouled Darling at 0:03.
With no more fouls to give, St. John’s ran that final play, which resulted in a layup against a team that prides itself on defense.
“Use the clock, that’s what I was thinking,” Self said of telling his team to commit fouls. “I wish when Kohl fouled the first time, he fouled in one second. I wish he could have just let him hold it and foul five seconds into it. So now you’ve got a situation where maybe there’s not 3.9. Maybe there’s 2.0 or 1.5 left. But our whole deal was, with only two team fouls, why wouldn’t you go ahead and foul in that situation? We left them too much time. But regardless of that, you’ve got guard three or four bounces, and we didn’t do it.”
Darling, a junior from Spokane, Washington, who went 1-of-5 from the field (0-4 3s) on the day, said it was the first buzzer-beater of his career.
“To be honest, the ball left my hands and I hit the ground, and I didn’t even see the ball go in. I just heard everybody going crazy. And everybody jumped, was jumping around. It was pretty cool, though, pretty cool, though,” Darling said.
Of the play set up during a timeout, Darling said: “By the time they ran out of fouls, I think there was probably four seconds left. And the play coach (Rick Pitino) was trying to run, there wasn’t enough time for it. I threw the suggestion out, and I don’t think Coach really had a choice at that point in time. So we went with it. And I probably don’t deserve this. I was pretty bad all night long, but my teammates held it down tonight.”
Hall of Fame coach Pitino credited Darling for his clutch bucket.
“This is the amazing thing, and the funniest thing I’ve ever been involved with,” Pitino related. “We’re going to run a play, but they’ve got fouls to give. And Bells (nickname for Darling) comes up to me and says, ‘Run power,’ which is a high back-screen pick-and-roll. So I walk away and I said, ‘Wait a second. He hasn’t scored a bucket, and he wants to run a play for himself.’ I’m thinking, as I’m walking, but he’s Bells. And not only did he do it, he went with his right hand. So real proud of him because to want the ball when you haven’t made a shot is unbelievable. I’m so happy for St. John’s and the fans. We had great fans out here.”
As far as the big picture of the game, KU’s offense once again struggled. The Jayhawks hit 24 of 54 shots for 44.4%. KU was 5-of-14 from 3 while the Red Storm cashed 11 of 35. KU was 12 of 17 from the line; St. Johns 6 of 11. The Red Storm hit 36.2% of their floor shots for the game.
“I didn’t think we ever got rhythm offensively the whole year,” Self said. “It’s one thing to get rhythm, but it’s another thing when you go against teams like Houston and Arizona and St. John’s that guard differently than the other teams guard you. So it is easier to get rhythm when you’re comfortable. And the key to having rhythm is doing it when you’re put under duress. And I didn’t think we handled that very well at all.
“At the end, we were aggressive and played to athletic ability and went and made athletic plays, which was great. Certainly a frustrating year would be probably too much to say. But it’s certainly a year that ... nothing about it was very smooth. Seemed like, to me, we were having to adjust on the fly quite a bit.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2026 at 9:31 PM with the headline "Why KU subbed out Kohl Rosario for Elmarko Jackson on final play vs. St. John’s."
