St. John's advances to first Sweet 16 since 1999 on Dylan Darling's buzzer-beater over Kansas
What happened
St. John's guard Dylan Darling hit a buzzer-beating layup to defeat Kansas 67-65 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, sending the Red Storm to their first Sweet 16 since 1999. The win came Sunday and ended a 27-year drought for St. John's.
How the left framed it
No left-leaning outlets covered this story in the available excerpts. ESPN, listed as center-left, led with the hero and the milestone: "Darling sends Johnnies to first Sweet 16 since '99." Their second major angle was Bill Self's coaching future, framing it as an unresolved post-loss question.
How the right framed it
Fox News played it as a pure drama story — "St John's sends Kansas packing with dramatic buzzer-beating layup." The NY Post leaned into legacy and grievance: one piece declared Darling's shot "will live on forever," while another led with referee criticism — "The refs didn't need to make it any harder" — framing the win as nearly stolen by officiating.
How the center covered it
CBS Sports humanized Darling with the locker-room detail that he "called his epic shot in huddle" despite being then-scoreless — the most specific storytelling beat in any excerpt. Yahoo Sports' Kansas coverage focused on Bill Self's self-critique over "botched fouling strategy," quoting him directly: "I wish he could have just let him hold it."
What one side told you that the other didn't
The NY Post is the only outlet that raised officiating controversy, citing "two controversial March Madness calls" as factors that "nearly cost St. John's" the win — a framing absent from ESPN, CBS, Fox, and Yahoo. Yahoo Sports was alone in detailing Self's tactical regret, giving Kansas fans a specific explanation for the loss rather than just a narrative of a stunning upset.
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