The Kansas Jayhawks did something that had never been done in a title game on Monday night, rallying from a 16 point deficit (15 at the half) to defeat the North Carolina Tarheels 72-69 in the men’s basketball Division I National Championship game at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
Kansas (34-6) had the lead on several occasions early on including a 7-0 run to open the game, but North Carolina would flex their muscle the rest of the first half outscoring the Jayhawks 40-18 and owned the offensive glass with an 18-2 edge on second half points to take a 40-25 halftime lead. The Tarheels would lead by as many as 16 (38-22). Kansas coach Bill Self would make some big time adjustments at the break, and his team responded with a 31-10 spurt out of the locker room to take a 56-50 advantage on a three point play by Jalen Wilson with 10:08 left to play. UNC (29-10) came right back though and less than two minutes later tied it at 57-57 on a three-pointer by Puff Johnson. The Tarheels would take their final lead on a layup by Brady Manek with 1:41 to go. Back to back baskets in the paint by David McCormack about a minute apart made it 72-69 Kansas with 22 seconds remaining. UNC got two looks from three-point range by Caleb Love and Johnson on the next possession that fell short, and on the rebounding action lost the ball out of bounds with just 4.6 seconds showing on the clock. Dujuan Harris mistakenly stepped out of bounds for the Jayhawks on the ensuing inbounds pass, giving the Heels one more chance to tie it, but a three-point attempt by Love came up well short and Kansas celebrated their fourth national title and first since 2008.
Both teams put five players in double figures in the game. UNC was led by Armando Bacot and RJ Davis with 15 points a piece. Bacot also had 15 rebounds, before leaving the game late after re-aggravating a twisted ankle that he suffered in the win over Duke on Saturday. Davis had 12 rebounds. Manek also recorded a double double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Love would finish with 13 points. Johnson had his best game of the season off the bench with 11 points. Wilson and McCormack had 15 points each for Kansas, with McCormack adding 10 rebounds. Remy Martin had 14 points. Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun had 12 points a piece, with Braun becoming the fifth player in the contest with a double double with 12 rebounds. The 16 point comeback was the biggest in the history of the championship game, breaking the previous high of 15 points set by Loyola-Chicago in 1963 when they came back to defeat the University of Cincinnati.
