OMAHA — Kansas’ most important player is the senior guard Devonte’ Graham. But entering Friday’s round-of-16 matchup against a physical Clemson team, the Jayhawks’ X factor was the sophomore 7-footer Udoka Azubuike, whose knee injury had kept him out of the Big 12 tournament and limited him in the N.C.A.A. tournament’s first two rounds.
Doubts about whether the 280-pound Azubuike would be at full strength evaporated early as No. 1-seeded Kansas defeated fifth-seeded Clemson, 80-76, in the Midwest Region.
Graham — playing in the tournament’s second weekend for the third straight year — leapt with excitability just before tipoff.